Cops: Chicago Teen Killed 6 People in 9 Months

While most people were hunkered down at home during the early months of the pandemic, one teen went on a killing spree in Chicago, massacring six people within a span of nine months. So said local police and prosecutors on Wednesday in announcing murder charges against Antonio Reyes, now 21, for those six killings, as well as attempted murder charges for four others—including three children, reports CBS News. Reyes is accused of shooting to death six boys or men ranging in age from 16 to 31 between March 2020 and November of that year, according to police and records out of Illinois' Cook County.

Police say the suspected serial killer was 16 years old when he started his murderous rampage, and that he didn't have any known ties to most of his randomly chosen victims. According to Eileen O'Neill Burke, the Cook County state's attorney, one victim had been sitting in a car with a friend when he was shot; another had been trying to buy a soda at a gas station, while yet another victim had been headed out to buy a puppy with his kids. "It appears [Reyes] was just doing it for the thrill of it—to murder people, repeatedly," says Burke, per the New York Times.

Reyes was first arrested in December 2020 for the June 2020 murder of 26-year-old Luis Davalos Garcia; he was hit with charges in the other five killings earlier this month. Authorities were reportedly able to tie Reyes to the murders via a .40-caliber handgun used in Garcia's shooting that was subsequently linked to other killings. Surveillance footage, tips from the public, and Reyes' own social media posts were also used as evidence against him.

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Reyes, who's been held without bail since his initial arrest, is also accused of trying to kill his cellmate with a shank. "It's difficult to comprehend how anyone could easily take someone's life, and especially so many in one year," Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said Wednesday, per USA Today. "Who knows how many he may have been responsible for?" Reyes has pleaded not guilty to all charges, with his next court date set for March 18. Detectives are looking into whether he may be behind any other murders. (More serial killer stories.)