A recently paroled felon has been charged with gunning down three people — and then shooting one of their daughters in the head — leading Chicago’s top cop to beg judges to “throw away the key” and finally get him “off our streets.”
Samuel Parsons-Salas, 32, was caught on camera grabbing a gun from a vehicle outside Vera’s Lounge early Sunday — then picking out his victims, shooting some at point-blank range, the Chicago Sun-Times said.
The daughter of one of the three people killed was seen running up to her fallen father — just for Parsons-Salas to walk up and shoot her in the head, leaving her in critical condition, the paper said.
The violent felon — who was finally arrested Monday after running from SWAT cops — was also charged with kidnapping a woman he allegedly held hostage while fleeing the scene, police said.
Chicago felon Samuel Parsons-Salas, 32, is charged with murder, attempted murder and kidnapping just months after he was paroled. APThe killing spree came less than three months after Parsons-Salas was paroled after a 2014 conviction for an armed home invasion in which two people were shot dead, the Sun-Times said.
“Throw away the key,” Chicago’s top cop, Supt. David Brown, seethed at a press conference. “Get this person off our streets,” he said.
“Don’t release him on electronic monitoring because he is a danger not only to this community but to the city of Chicago at large. Throw the book at him,” Brown pleaded with judges in the crime-ridden Democratic city.
Parsons-Salas had been attending a party at the Vera Lounge celebrating the 25th birthday of Maria Vera, the woman left “fighting for her life” after being shot in the head, Brown said.
Parsons-Salas was caught on camera opening fire after being kicked out of a party at the Vera Lounge in Portage Park, police say. CBS NewsHe grabbed the gun after being kicked out of the party, repeatedly opening fire once confronted outside.
Vera’s 50-year-old father, Ricky Vera, and Mario Pozuelos, 26, were pronounced dead at the scene. Mercedes Tavares, a 24-year-old mother of three, was pronounced dead later at a hospital.
Pozuelos’ family told the local paper they were “at a loss for words.”
“He was taken from us too soon due to a senseless act of gun violence,” the family said. “Our Mario had his whole life ahead.”
Parsons-Salas is charged with three counts of murder as well as attempted murder and kidnapping. He was expected in bond court on Wednesday.
David Brown speaks during a press conference earlier this year. Bloomberg via Getty ImagesWith Post wires
