Suspect Charged With Murder Of Irving Park Shop Owner
(STMW) -- A Northwest Side man was ordered held without bond Friday for the murder of a 56-year-old shop owner in the Northwest Side Irving Park neighborhood.
Jonathon Herrera, 19, of the 5300 block of North Lovejoy was charged with first-degree murder, burglary and armed robbery, according to Chicago Police.
About 5 p.m. April 1, Herrera was buzzed into Bart's Coins & Collectibles in the 3900 block of North Pulaski by the store owner, 56-year-old Petro Rymar, prosecutors said at Herrera's bond hearing Friday.
Once inside, Herrera stabbed Rymar several times in the chest and abdomen with a "sharp instrument," prosecutors said. He stole several items from the store's vault, then broke a window with a stool and left.
Multiple witnesses outside the store saw him leave through the window and run away, prosecutors said. Someone called 911 and officers forced their way into the store and found Rymar unresponsive on the floor in the back office.
Rymar, of the 4900 block of North Avers, was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Police initially said he had been shot, but an autopsy found he died of multiple sharp force injuries and his death was ruled a homicide.
A bloody fingerprint from an item in the vault, and another on the broken window were matched to Herrera by the Illinois State Police crime lab, prosecutors said. He had pawned or sold the items stolen from the shop.
A week before the murder, Herrera burglarized another store on the Northwest Side, prosecutors said.
On March 24, he entered through the roof of Archie's Precious Metals in the 5500 block of West Devon Avenue while the shop was closed and stole numerous items, putting them into garbage bags, prosecutors said.
Video surveillance caught the burglary, and a store employee recognized Herrera, who had pawned an item at the store and given them his ID, prosecutors said.
Herrera was arrested at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the 5700 block of West Higgins and charged with murder and burglary, authorities said. He was ordered held without bond Friday.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2016. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
