A Highwood teen said “Do it! Do it!” moments before he was fatally shot by another teenager, Lake County prosecutors said at a Tuesday bond hearing.
After hearing details of the shooting death of Omar Diaz, Judge Theodore Potkonjak ordered Estiven Sarminento of the 900 block of Deerfield Road in Highland Park held in lieu of $5 million bond in the alleged first-degree murder.
Both victim and alleged shooter are 16 years old, authorities said. Prosecutors did not discuss what prompted the shooting; police said Monday that the youths had an ongoing dispute.
Diaz, a Highwood resident, was shot about 11:30 a.m. Sunday on the sidewalk in the 2300 block of Green Bay Road in Highland Park by an assailant who was dressed all in black and rode up to him on a bike, police said.
Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Daly told the judge that Diaz was on a Snapchat call with a friend at the time of the shooting, and the friend heard Diaz call out “Do it!” just before he was shot. During the call, the friend told police, Diaz reported seeing Sarminento.
A witness told police that Sarminento rode a bike past Diaz and then turned around and confronted him before shooting him twice. Another witness told police that the assailant then pulled something up over his face and fled on foot, Daly said.
Police traced the bike to another youth, who told police he had left it at Sarminento’s house several days earlier, Daly said. The bike owner said Sarminento called him after the shooting and warned him, “Don’t snitch.”
“You could get killed, too,” Sarminento allegedly told the friend, the prosecutor said in court.
Sarminento is charged as an adult in the shooting. He was taken into custody Monday after an investigation by Highland Park Police and the Lake County Major Crime Task Force.
“Outstanding investigators and innovative technology are important to solving violent crime,” State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said Tuesday. “We are working with the family and express our ongoing support and condolences. This offender will be held responsible for this brutal execution.”
Diaz was a student at Highland Park High School, the school confirmed Monday.
Township High School District 113 Superintendent Bruce Law sent an email Monday saying the scheduled metal detection system at the high school would be implemented earlier than expected, and police presence would be increased on campus “out of an abundance of caution” beginning on the first day of classes Wednesday.
