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Read the press release here.

Teen Charged in Double Homicide Near A West Side Elementary School

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Prosecutors have charged a 17-year-old in the Garfield Park shooting that left two people dead and a third wounded just a block away from a local elementary school.

Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas on Tuesday called suspect Hajuan Hentz, 17, "a danger to the public" before denying him bail.

Prosecutors allege Hentz was one of four gunmen who stepped out of a white van and began shooting at a group of people in the 4300 block of South Wilcox Street about 4:40 p.m. March 31.

Demetrius Tolliver, 23, and Dejenaba Altman, 43, were fatally shot and later pronounced dead at local hospitals, prosecutors said. A 16-year-old boy was shot in his back and survived.

The shooting happened a block away from Hefferan Elementary School, 4409 W. Wilcox St. One mother recalled her son running home after the shooting started.

"My baby came running home from school saying boys were shooting, and he saw a lady lying between two cars," Gladys Carter said in March. "He said 'Mama, she was dead.' He was sweating and shaking. I'm just glad it wasn't him. I'd die if my baby got shot."

Police recovered more than 20 shell casings from several different guns at the scene, according to Assistant State's Attorney Jamie Santini, who spoke during a bond hearing Tuesday.

Several witnesses recalled the shooters getting out of a white van with a rusty back, prosecutors said. Police found that van abandoned in the 5000 block of West Jackson Boulevard later that day.

Officers were able to lift several fingerprints from inside the van — one of which came back as a match to Hentz, Santini said. Several witnesses later identified Hentz as one of the shooters.

Police also matched shell casings found in the van to those recovered at the scene of the shooting, according to prosecutors.

When police tried to arrest Hentz this week in the first block of South Leamington Avenue, he ran into a nearby home and hid, Santini said.

Hentz is charged as an adult with first-degree murder.

Police do not release mugshots of minors.

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