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13-Year-Old Was Walking Away From Melee When Fatally Shot, Prosecutors Say

By  Erica Demarest Mauricio Peña and Josh McGhee | February 13, 2015 9:47am | Updated on February 13, 2015 4:47pm

 Roberto Madrigal (r.) was charged with first-degree murder after 13-year-old Anthony Diaz (l.) was gunned down Sunday.
Roberto Madrigal (r.) was charged with first-degree murder after 13-year-old Anthony Diaz (l.) was gunned down Sunday.
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Facebook; Chicago Police Department

CHICAGO — An 18-year-man, charged Friday in the shooting death of a 13-year-old Belmont Cragin boy after a group watching two girls fight grew violent, was ordered held without bail at his court hearing.

Roberto Madrigal, of the 2700 block of North Laramie Ave., was charged with one felony count of murder.

Police allege Madrigal shot and killed Anthony Diaz on Sunday in the 6000 block of West Grand.

According to the Anthony's family, he went with his two sisters to settle a dispute with others that started on social media and in texts. The two sides had agreed to meet to fight.

According to Assistant State's Attorney Jamie Santini, about 14 people had gathered at a parking lot around 10:30 p.m. at 6010 W. Grand. Ave. Madrigal came in a car with others, some of whom told police that they heard him talking about having a gun and ammunition, Santini said.

According to prosecutors, during the trip over, the car stopped at a house, Madrigal went in, and returned about five minutes later.

After discussing the rules of the fight, two girls began a battle that was captured on cellphone video by two witnesses. When one girl began to get the best of the other, a friend of the girl who was losing jumped into the fight setting off a melee, prosecutors said.

Soon after the melee began, Anthony began walking away; Madrigal followed him and shot him four times in the upper torso, Santini said. Anthony, of the 2100 block of McVicker Avenue, was pronounced dead at 11:26 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

Madrigal was seen with a gun in his hand fleeing the scene, prosecutors said. He allegedly told friends he shot Anthony, prosecutors said.

The fact that Anthony was walking away from the melee when he was fatally shot will always haunt Anthony's father, Ralph Otero.

"It's very tough, very hard to wrap my head around. He was just an innocent kid. I keep saying it over and over. I don't see how it fits," Otero said outside the family home Friday afternoon.

"It doesn't seem right at all. He was just an innocent boy that got caught at the wrong place at the wrong time," Otero said.

According to Madrigal's public defender, he has no prior criminal record, is a high school graduate and lives with his father, stepmother, a brother and a sister.

He was held without bail by Cook County Circuit Judge James Brown, but that gave no satisfaction to Anthony's family.

"It's not something to get satisfaction from... One mother lost a son, now, there's another mother that lost a son," said Otero adding his wife hasn't eaten or left her room since their son's death Sunday night.

Otero, who is a preacher, said the family is focusing on forgiveness as they plan Anthony's funeral next week. Though, he's preached at many funerals before, this one will no doubt be the toughest, he said.

"I never thought it would be my son. Now, I feel their pain," he said.

Donations for Anthony's funeral can be given here.

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