Chicago police on Saturday announced an arrest in connection with the brazen killing of a young couple last month during the Puerto Rican Day festivities in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
Anthony Lorenzi was arrested Friday in San Diego and is awaiting extradition to Chicago, according to police Supt. David Brown. Investigators said they identified him within hours of the brutal June 19 encounter that ended with the shooting deaths of Yasmin Perez and Gyovanni Arzuaga.
But Lorenzi is only facing one count of first-degree murder. Police say it’s “more than likely” Arzuaga, 24, was the person who accidentally fired the shot that killed his 25-year-old girlfriend during a “frenzy” on Division Street when a group of people ambushed their car.
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Police said the couple was driving in the 3200 block of West Division when they were involved in a minor crash and ambushed.
Several people beat Perez, and when Arzuaga came to her aid, he was shot by a second person “almost execution-style,” police said.
Graphic surveillance video of the attack that circulated online afterward showed the couple lying in the street next to their car as the attackers ran off.
Arzuaga died at a hospital that night. His girlfriend died three days later.
Two other people were in the car, but CPD Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said evidence suggests Arzuaga likely accidentally shot his girlfriend from inside the car while trying to fend off their attackers.
“Everything points to, once again, more than likely that he discharged that firearm, accidentally, causing that gunshot wound,” to Perez, Deenihan said.
Lorenzi allegedly then shot Arzuaga multiple times.
“This individual in custody, Lorenzi, he is the one responsible for this death. There is nobody else responsible,” Deenihan said.
Investigators are still looking for an unspecified number of other possible suspects wanted in connection with the case.
The couple leave behind two young children.
“It may look hard for a lot of people, but Yasmin was such a great mom,” her friend Jae Pacheco previously told the Sun-Times. “She loved her kids so much. You could tell they were so loved, and they were so happy.”
Arzuaga “was just about being around good vibes, being around good people,” Pacheco said.
This is a developing story. Check back soon for more.
