'She was so, so, so scared,' says deadly Portage Park mass shooting victim's sister
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A young mother named Mercedes Tavares was one of three people killed outside a Portage Park neighborhood bar this past weekend – and on Thursday night, her sister spoke out for the first time.
As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported, Chicago Police have shut down Vera Lounge, 3235 N. Central Ave., indefinitely after a quarrel spilled outside and turned deadly early Sunday morning.
Cellphone Video from inside Vera Lounge Saturday night shows Tavares dressed in black - dancing with Mariah Vera, her friend, who was out celebrating her birthday.
"She was just dancing on people," said Tavares' sister, Josaline Golota. "She was having so much fun, you know?"
But around 2:20 a.m. Sunday, somebody hit Mariah.
A quarrel spilled into the street, and police said 32-year-old Samuel Parsons-Salas shot four people, and fled in a dark-colored sport-utility vehicle. Parsons-Salas has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of kidnapping related to the early Sunday shooting.
Ricky Vera, 50, whose brother owns the bar, was shot in the head and chest and was pronounced dead on the scene. Mariah, 25, his daughter, was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the head, and was listed in critical condition.
Two of Maria's friends, Mario Pozuelos, 26, of Franklin Park, and Tavares, 24, of Chicago Heights, were taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital with multiple gunshot wounds to the body. Both were pronounced dead.
An anxious and heartbroken Golota said her sister was a mom to three —including infant twins. Golota has left a tribute near the spot her sister was shot and killed.
Golota has seen the graphic surveillance video of the shooting, which we are not airing.
"He sees her, and he was about to get in the car - and he goes and he shoots her once - and goes and he does it again," Golota said. "That's not the actions of somebody who didn't mean to shoot nobody."
Prosecutors say Parsons-Salas admitted to shooting everyone who called out his name during the quarrel outside the bar, but apologized to investigators for shooting Tavares.
"She was so, so scared. She was so, so, so scared - and you can hear her scream," Golota said. "I watched that video so many times."
Golota says her sister arrived at the Vera Lounge with a friend, along with that friend's new boyfriend — Parsons-Salas, the same man who is accused of killing Taveras later in the night.
De Mar: "Your understanding is that they went there together?"
Golota: "Together. They knew each other."
After the shooting, Parsons-Salas got into the passenger seat of a car driven by his girlfriend.
Police say Parsons-Salas forced his girlfriend to drive away at gunpoint, and he is also now charged with her kidnapping.
But Tavares' family is upset that the girlfriend of the alleged shooter hasn't been held accountable.
"As soon as she fled with him, she should have been a person of interest," Golota said.
Supt. Brown was asked why Parsons-Salas' girlfriend wasn't charged.
"This wasn't a slam dunk case," Brown said. "Just based on video, we had to have witness cooperation - so everyone involved, including the person that the family is upset with - helped us bring charges."
"As soon as she fled in that car with him, she should have been a person of interest," said Golota.
Salas is being held without bond. The brother of victim Ricky Vera owns Verea Lounge – and according to the notice on the door, he has three days to request a hearing with the mayor to challenge the city's decision to close the bar.
A GoFundMe has also been set up for Tavares's family.
A GoFundMe has been set up for funeral and medical expenses for the Vera family.
