Fifth Suspect Arrested In Fatal Shooting Of Skokie Teen
(STMW) -- Skokie Police have arrested the person they allege pulled the trigger in the fatal shooting of Niles North student Max Gadau last week, Pioneer Press is reporting.
The suspect, a 17-year-old boy, was arrested today at his Chicago school. Police are expecting to charge him later today in connection with Gadau's murder and the shooting of a 17-year-old female victim who also attends Niles North. He is the fifth and final suspect expected to be charged.
A Cook County Judge ordered earlier today that the fourth suspect in Gadau's shooting, who allegedly planned the botched robbery that led to the shooting, be held without bail.
Judge Marcia B. Orr said this was an unprovoked attack against people who were doing nothing. She said the seriousness of not giving Dzevad Avdic, 19, bail is noting that he was the "planner." He constitutes a "real and present threat," to the public and to the second female shooting victim, who remains in the hospital in critical condition, she said.
Avdic, of the 5900 block of South Honore in Chicago, is charged with murder, attempted murder and armed robbery.
Prosecutors said in court that Avdic is alleged to have planned the crime and called another suspect, Jeremy Ly, asking for a "stain or a lick," which is street talk for an easy target. Ly gave him a girl's name.
Prosecutors said Ly made contact with the female victim as early as Sept. 24, when he called and posed as an acquaintance of the hers, who he knew she would be agreeable to meeting. Ly allegedly promised the girl would "give it up easily" if Avdic had a gun.
Ly was wrong. When he and four others finally lured the girl and 17-year-old Maxwell Gadau into a car under the guise of a drug deal last month in the 9200 block of Kedvale in Skokie, a prosecutor said she refused to be robbed, even at gunpoint.
At the time of the meeting, somebody shot Gadau in the back with a 9mm handgun, and the bullet lodged in his chest. The bullet that was shot into the female victim went through her cheek and shattered her vertebrae.
The female victim has not spoken, but she has been able to gesture and write on a notepad identifying Myles Hughes, another suspect, charged with the crime.
Avdic appeared in court in powder blue prison garb, seeming to be on the verge of tears. He was apparently the first suspect arrested.
He claims to have an alibi for the time of the crime. His attorney, Ralph E. Neczyk, said Avdic claims his phone was stolen from him and he denies being in Skokie at the time. He claims he was with his girlfriend.
Prosecutors say this alibi will not hold up. Avdic's girlfriend denies he was with her. She said she saw him leave with the other suspects and he came home later and was very upset about whatever had occurred, prosecutors said.
The defense attorney said that the proof of guilt is not "obvious."
Neczyk raised the Miranda rights issue saying he was kept at police department for three days and asked to see a lawyer during that time. The defense attorney added the proof of guilt is not "obvious."
Avdic has no serious prior criminal charges or convictions. His most serious offense was a traffic violation.
Four men, all 19, have been charged with Gadau's murder, as well as the attempted murder and armed robbery of the girl.
Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas ordered the other three suspects held without bail Sunday.
Myles Hughes, of the 4200 block of West 81st in Chicago, and Nicholas Smith, of the 3800 block of West 84th in Chicago, appeared before Chiampas Sunday with Ly, of Skokie.
Their family members declined to comment after the judge denied bail for the men, but Smith's attorney called him "a good kid" who is the son of a pastor and who cooperated with police. Smith told detectives he was aware of a plan to "snatch and run" before the alleged robbery began, said Assistant State's Attorney David Mullner.
The prosecutor said Avdic texted the girl on Sept. 24 — after Ly gave him the girl's name and number. Avdic allegedly set up a drug deal and, meanwhile, got in touch with Smith.
Four days later, on Sept. 28, Avdic allegedly called the girl and drove Smith, Hughes and the alleged gunman to go meet her, Mullner said. Ly did not go along.
When they arrived, Hughes and the alleged gunman got into a car with the girl and Gadau, the prosecutor said. The girl sat in the driver's seat, and Gadau sat in the front passenger seat, Mullner said. Hughes sat in the back seat behind Gadau, and the alleged gunman sat behind the girl.
The alleged gunman pulled a handgun and demanded the drugs from the girl, Mullner said. When she refused to give them up, Mullner said the suspect opened fire, killing Gadau and wounding the girl.
The four suspects fled, Mullner said. But on their way to Avdic's home, they allegedly shared an ounce of pot stolen from the girl's car.
Mullner said the wounded girl remains in the hospital on a respirator. He said she will need to have her jaw wired shut and will require surgery to repair her jaw and vertebrae.
But the girl was able to identify Hughes in a photograph, the prosecutor said. And she said he was an accomplice of the person who shot her.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
