Chicago teen went on serial killing spree of 6 people in city’s southwest side in 2020, police say

A 21-year-old man was charged in six murders throughout 2020, when he was only 17, as prosecutors allege he went on a serial killing spree through the Chicago’s southwest side.

Antonio Reyes pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and four charges of attempted murder Tuesday, all of the cases stemming from the same year. Reyes was already in custody in connection with a sixth murder case from 2020, prosecutors said.

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke accused Reyes of perpetrating a string of shootings that year, when he was only 17 years old.

“It’s sad,” Burke said at a news conference Wednesday. “It’s sad to think about a 17-year-old committing serial murders over the course of nine months.”

Reyes was first arrested in December 2020 in connection with the murder of Luis Davalos, according to NBC Chicago. The murder occurred in June 2020, when Davalos was found with a gunshot wound to the head, the Chicago-Sun Times reported at the time.

Court records for that case were not immediately available, but it appears that case remains open. The county circuit court clerk did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

While Reyes was in jail awaiting trial in the Davalos murder case, he shanked a fellow inmate and those charges are pending, prosecutors alleged.

The new charges allege the murders of a 31-year-old man in March 2020, a 21-year-old man in April 2020, a 16-year-old boy in May 2020, a 20-year-old man in November 2020 and another 31-year-old man in November 2020.

Three of the attempted murder charges stem from the incident on Nov. 8, 2020, when the 31-year-old man was killed. The man, whose name was not released, was with his three children when he was killed, prosecutors said.

“These children were in a vehicle with the adult victim who was killed in a barrage of bullets,” Burke said.

Reyes is being held without bail, prosecutors said. Attorney information was not immediately available.