Yessenia Novoa-Poveda, 48, was fatally shot on September 17, 2024, around 1:10 a.m. at the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Elmwood Avenue in Waukegan. Officers found her inside a black Toyota Corolla; she was taken to Vista Medical Center East and pronounced dead. The Lake County Coroner’s Office determined the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the back.

Two other people were in the car with Novoa-Poveda but were uninjured. Investigators determined the suspects were in a 2009 Ford Crown Victoria registered to Torsheill Hibbler. Surveillance footage shows a passenger later identified as Johnathan D. White exiting the Ford and opening fire on the Toyota while Hibbler and her 17-year-old son, Tyrone Hoy, fired from inside their vehicle. Authorities say the shooting was retaliation after Hoy was shot in August, and the suspects mistakenly identified Novoa-Poveda’s car as involved.

Arrest warrants named White, 20, of Zion; Hibbler, 37, of Round Lake Beach; and Hoy, 17, of Round Lake Beach. White was arrested October 9 in Chicago; Hibbler and her son surrendered October 28 in Gurnee. A semi-automatic handgun and about 714 grams of substances that field-tested positive for cocaine were recovered; Hibbler faces additional drug charges. Novoa-Poveda had recently migrated to Waukegan and is survived by her husband, Abel Perez Parista, and her 7-year-old son, Caleb Esau Perez Novoa. Did anyone see the Toyota or Crown Victoria in the Melrose and Elmwood area around 1:00 a.m. on September 17?