Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca murder suspect to appear in court Friday
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The man police said shot and killed Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca was being held in custody Thursday, a day after being arrested in west suburban Glendale Heights.
Xavier Tate Jr., 22, has been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated vehicular hijacking, and possession of a stolen firearm in the death of Officer Huesca. The charges were approved in a warrant signed by a Cook County judge on Friday of last week.
The Cook County State's Attorney's office announced Thursday that it had approved the first-degree murder charges against Tate.
"Throughout the past week and a half, our detectives and law enforcement partners have worked tirelessly to find and arrest this offender. They did this for our fallen brother, Officer Huesca, and to make sure his killer would not put another family through what the Huesca family is enduring," police Supt. Larry Snelling wrote in an email to officers. "I want to thank each of you for the support you have shown the Huesca family, who will forever be part of our Chicago Police family. Together, we will carry on Officer Huesca's legacy of kindness and spirit of justice."
Tate's arrest came just days after Officer Huesca was laid to rest. Family and friends said their final goodbyes to Officer Huesca at an emotional service Monday.
Finally, his friends, family, and brothers and sisters in blue have found some closure.
Officer Huesca, a six-year veteran who worked with the Area 2 Priority Response Team, was shot and killed returning home from his shift while still in uniform on Sunday, April 21 in the 5500 block of South Kedzie Avenue. Police were first called to the scene by a ShotSpotter alert.
Huesca was two days away from his 31st birthday at the time.
Around 7 p.m. Wednesday, Tate was taken into custody by members of the Chicago Police Department and the U.S. Marshal's Great Lakes Regional Task Force. Sources said he was hiding in a second-floor apartment, and police used Officer Huesca's handcuffs to arrest him.
"The murder of a police officer is a murder, but it's also an aggravating factor under Illinois law," said CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller. "If convicted, he would be looking at natural life in jail without the possibility of parole."
Tate had previously been arrested on March 6 and charged with criminal trespass in Olympia Fields. He had also been charged twice in Kane County with obstructing a police officer—once in February and again in June of last year.
His relative, Caschaus Tate, 20, was arrested just a few days ago and accused of throwing Officer Huesca's stolen gun over a fence outside his home in the Morgan Park neighborhood.
Miller said it remains to be seen whether anyone else would be charged in the case.
"You would be facing criminal charges if you had assisted that person in keeping quiet and concealing that person," said Miller.
At an unrelated event Thursday, CBS 2 reporter Darius Johnson tried to ask Mayor Brandon Johnson for his reaction to the developments. Huesca's family had asked the mayor not to attend Officer Huesca's line-of-duty funeral.
The mayor did not comment, though he had not planned to take questions after the event.
The State's Attorney's office said Tate will make his first appearance in Cook County Criminal Court on Friday morning. Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx and Supt. Snelling will hold a news conference in conjunction with the appearance.
Glendale Heights neighbors alarmed by Tate's dramatic arrest
At the usually-quiet apartment complex where Tate was arrested Wednesday evening, things were nearly back to normal a day later. The only signs of the massive police presence that had been there all the night before were a few small pieces of crime scene tape - and the crowds of neighbors who are periodically stopping to talk about what they saw.
The knocks were so loud inside Alejandro Goatache's apartment Wednesday night that he thought police were at his own door. He found that officers were filling the corridors to find the man hiding across the hall.
"There was a lot of marshals, a lot of police," said Goatache, "and then when I saw that, I just closed it right away and locked it."
It was the same story for his neighbor one floor up, Shahid Mohammed.
"You could see U.S. Marshals everywhere with snipers, shields," said Mohammed. "It looks like a SWAT team, you know, some special team."
There were so many officers that people walked from neighboring buildings to find out more.
"At first, I didn't want to believe it. You know, it was kind of like, no, this doesn't happen out here. Maybe they're shooting a movie, you know, something like that, you know," said Tyler Anderson, "but the longer I stood around and kind listened in the more, it became real."
Residents were on edge, as they had no clue what was going on.
"I just seen all the police, and I got a gang of phone calls trying to figure out what was going on where I lived at, and I didn't know," said Sinque Washington.
At least one neighbor said he had already planned to move before the chaos came to the neighbors' front door.
"It never happened for something like that in my life," said Goatach. "So yeah, it's crazy.
"I see out of the window, there are like snipers in position - snipers that we don't see often - and they were in position," said Mohammed, "and I was really scared."
In the end, police took Tate into custody. One day later, neighbors said they were still surprised by what they saw.
"I had goosebumps all over," said Shahid.
Sources said that Tate's brother lives in this complex. But residents in the unit said they were unsure if they had ever seen Tate or his brother here before.