Second Person Charged With Killing 17-Year-Old Chicago Heights Girl
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A second person has been charged with killing a 17-year-old girl last week in south suburban Chicago Heights.
Martin Chavez, 22, of Chicago Heights turned himself in about 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Chicago Heights police said. He was charged with a count of first-degree murder for the death of Melanie M. Valencia on Feb. 22.
Yerni Arriaga, 17, also faces one count of first-degree murder, according to police and the Cook County state's attorney's office. Arriaga was arrested about 7 p.m. Monday in the 100 block of East 22nd Street.
Police responded about 9:25 p.m. Feb. 22 to a 911 caller stating she could hear a woman screaming for help in the 1400 block of Schilling Avenue, police said.
Officers found Valencia on the ground near a fence in the back of a home, bleeding from the head and back, authorities said. She died at the scene at 9:44 p.m.
An autopsy found she died of multiple injuries suffered in an assault, and her death was ruled a homicide.
Arriaga and Chavez remain jailed on $5 million bonds, court records show. They are due in court again March 21.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2017. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
