Jezabell Perez

Jezabell Perez was a 22-year-old Hispanic mother of two young daughters. In the wake of her death, her family organized a fundraiser for her funeral and remembered her as a caring and devoted mother who worked hard to support her children and never missed a family gathering. Her cousin-in-law noted that the girls’ father would be a great help in keeping their mother's memory alive for them.

On the night of August 24, 2022, in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, Jezabell was driving with her 24-year-old sister and her two daughters when they saw a car parked in front of a smoke shop on 26th Street. Inside were 16-year-old Roberto Jimenez, with whom Jezabell’s sister had been in a relationship, and his new girlfriend. Jezabell stopped her car and argued with the pair about a previous incident. After throwing a cup of water on the other car, she drove away. The two cars met again shortly after, around 8:20 p.m., in an alley in the 2700 block of South Homan Avenue. Jezabell got out of her car and began banging on the driver's side window of the other vehicle.

According to prosecutors, Jimenez and another person then got out of their car and walked to a nearby tow lot where his gang was known to store firearms. When Jimenez returned, shots were fired. Jezabell was struck multiple times in the torso and was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital. Her sister was shot in the buttocks and abdomen but survived her injuries.

The shooting was the culmination of an ongoing dispute. Prosecutors said that weeks earlier, on August 7, 2022, Jimenez had shot Jezabell's sister after she approached his new girlfriend’s car to confront her about a Facebook post. That shooting was still under investigation at the time of the fatal attack on August 24.

A few days after Jezabell was killed, police arrested Roberto Jimenez. He was charged as an adult with first-degree murder, attempted murder, and two counts of aggravated battery. One aggravated battery charge was for the shooting of Jezabell's sister on August 24, and the other was for the earlier shooting on August 7. As of late August 2022, the case against Jimenez was moving forward in court.