Luis Velazquez, a 41-year-old Hispanic man, was shot multiple times and killed on October 25, 2021, in a residential neighborhood on Chicago’s Southwest Side. He was found unresponsive; emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene. Witnesses reported hearing gunshots and seeing a vehicle speed away from the area shortly after the shooting.

Chicago police later treated the death as a targeted, premeditated attack and pursued a homicide investigation. Authorities say a combination of eyewitness accounts and forensic evidence pointed to 28-year-old Luis Vela, who was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors have pointed to ballistics and DNA evidence; the defense has argued the evidence is circumstantial.

Velazquez’s family described him as hardworking and devoted to his family and community.