One of the three individuals shot and died last weekend outside a club in the Portage Park neighborhood was a young mother named Mercedes Tavares; her sister finally spoke out about the tragedy on Thursday night.
After an argument inside Vera Lounge on Chicago’s 3235 N. Central Ave. early on Sunday morning turned deadly, police have closed the establishment indefinitely, as reported by CBS 2’s Charlie De Mar.
On Saturday night Cellphone Visual documentation of the Vera Lounge , Tavares, all in black, danced with her friend Mariah Vera at a birthday party.
Tavares’s sister, Josaline Golota, stated, “She was basically dancing on everyone. She was having the time of her life,” they said.
However, Mariah was assaulted sometime between 2:20 and 3:00 a.m. on Sunday. Police said 32-year-old Samuel Parsons-Salas opened fire on bystanders in the street before fleeing in a grey SUV.
Following the early Sunday morning shooting, Parsons-Salas was arrested and charged with three charges of first-degree murder, one act of attempted murder, and one crime of kidnapping.
The bar owner’s brother’s brother, 50-year-old Ricky Vera, was shot many times and pronounced dead at the scene.
Mariah, his 25-year-old daughter, suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was sent to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where she is currently in serious condition.
Both Mario Pozuelos, 26, of Franklin Park, and Tavares, 24, of Chicago Heights, were shot many times and sent to Mt. Sinai Hospital for treatment. Death certificates were issued for both.
Golota, worried and distraught, revealed that her sister had triplets. At the site where her sister was killed by gunfire, Golota has placed a memorial.
Golota has seen the horrific security footage of the shooting, but we will not be airing it. “He sees her, and he was about to get in the car, and he goes, and shoots her once,” Golota explained.
That’s not the behavior of someone who accidentally shot someone. According to the prosecution, Parsons-Salas apologized to detectives for shooting Tavares but admitted shooting everyone who screamed out his name during the fight outside the pub.
“In fact, she was pretty terrified. She was frightened, as evidenced by her shrieking. “The statement by Golota.
I lost count of how many times I viewed that video. According to Golota, her sister visited the Vera Lounge with a friend and the friend’s new boyfriend, identified as Parsons-Salas, who is suspected of being Taveras’ killer.
And De Mar asked, “Your understanding is that they traveled there together?”
Golota: “Together. That’s because they were familiar with one another.”
The incident ended with Parsons-Salas sitting in the passenger seat of a car driven by his girlfriend. At gunpoint, Parsons-Salas allegedly abducted his girlfriend, according to the police.
However, Tavares’ loved ones are frustrated that the alleged shooter’s girlfriend hasn’t been punished. Golota said that she “should have been a person of interest” as soon as she escaped with him.
Parsons-girlfriend Salas’s was not charged, and Supt. Brown was questioned about this. Brown stated, “This wasn’t a slam dunk case.”
“We couldn’t establish charges based on video evidence; we had to secure witness cooperation from everyone involved, even the individual the family is angry with.”
According to Golota, “she should have been a person of interest as soon as she escaped in that car with him.” We have decided to hold Salas without bond.
The bar Verea Lounge is owned by Ricky Vera’s brother, who has three days to appeal the city’s decision to close the establishment by requesting a hearing with the mayor.
For Tavares’s family, a GoFundMe has been established. For the family of Vera, we have put up a GoFundMe to help with burial and medical costs.
Source: CBS News
