Angel J Rosario

Angel J. Rosario, a 29-year-old Hispanic man, was a devoted father who prided himself on providing for his young daughter. Friends and family remembered him as a loving, caring, and humble person. He attended Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy and later the Latino Youth Alternative High School in Chicago, Illinois. Angel grew up in the Brighton Park neighborhood and was best friends since childhood with Alejandro Arellano. As a father, Angel was already looking forward to Christmas in the fall of 2017 and had purchased a present for his seven-year-old girl. According to her mother, he was actively working to build a better future for his family and was in the process of having gang-related facial tattoos removed.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, November 12, 2017, the lives of Angel and his best friend, Alejandro, were cut short in a burst of violence. The two men, both 29, were leaving a party together in their old neighborhood. At approximately 1:55 a.m., as they walked in the 2400 block of West 47th Street, a gray Toyota Corolla pulled up alongside them. A man wearing a mask exited the vehicle and opened fire with a rifle before getting back in the car, which then fled eastbound toward Western Avenue.

The attack was swift and brutal. Angel was shot in the head and neck, while Alejandro was shot in the chest. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. When Chicago Police arrived, they found more than 20 shell casings littering the street and sidewalk. The casings were identified as .223-caliber, a type of ammunition commonly used in AR-15 style rifles, indicating the high-powered nature of the weapon used in the ambush.

The investigation into the double homicide was handled by Chicago Police detectives. Authorities stated their belief that the shooting was gang-related. Family members acknowledged that both men had been affiliated with the Satan Disciples street gang in the past, having grown up in an environment where that life was prevalent. However, they insisted that the men had been distancing themselves from that world in recent years. "We all say he was a good boy, a respectable father, but to them (police), he is just a gangbanger," Alejandro Arellano’s older sister told reporters at the scene. Angel’s efforts to remove his tattoos were a visible sign of his desire to leave that part of his past behind.

The loss of Angel and Alejandro devastated their families and friends. The mother of Angel’s daughter described the two men as inseparable, saying they were "best friends, always together." Their shared history, from growing up together to dying together, made the tragedy even more profound for those who knew them. Their deaths were two of several violent crimes that occurred across the city that weekend, highlighting the ongoing struggle with gun violence in many Chicago neighborhoods.

As of November 2017, no arrests had been made in connection with the murders of Angel Rosario and Alejandro Arellano. The gunman, who concealed his identity with a mask, and any potential accomplices in the gray Toyota Corolla have not been publicly identified. The case remains an open investigation with the Chicago Police Department. The families were left to mourn two fathers, sons, and friends whose futures were stolen from them in a senseless act of violence on a quiet residential street.