Teen charged in connection with Joliet fatal shooting

A 17-year-old was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of another 17-year-old behind the Blue Kangaroo laundromat in Joliet’s East Side.

On Monday, charges of first-degree murder, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and and unlawful possession of firearms were filed against Cristian Ortiz-Arias, in connection with Saturday’s shooting.

Judge Sarah Jones signed a $3 million warrant for Ortiz-Arias’ arrest on Monday.

Ortiz-Arias’ mother declined to comment on the charges.

In a news release, Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne English said police detectives identified a male juvenile suspect who was “located and transported to the Joliet Police Department for questioning.” Ortiz-Arias, a Joliet resident, was not named in the news release.

After taking the juvenile into custody, he was transported to River Valley Juvenile Detention Center, English said.

Will County Coroner Laurie Summer’s office did not release any information about the victim until Monday afternoon. The news release posted on Facebook did not identify the victim and said he was pronounced deceased at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday in the 600 block of East Cass Street, which is the location of Blue Kangaroo laundromat.

An autopsy was performed the same day as the shooting.

“The preliminary cause of of death is multiple gunshot wounds,” coroner officials said.

Elizabeth Arriaga told The Herald-News that it was her brother Diego Arriaga, 17, who was killed.

“He was a really hard working person,” she said.

“And a caring person,” said Juan Arriaga, Diego Arriaga’s cousin.

The two said Diego Arriaga worked at Domino’s Pizza on Collins Street and purchased a Dodge Charger not long ago.

“He recently bought a car. He was so proud of it,” Elizabeth Arriaga said.

Elizabeth and Juan Arriaga were with family members at a makeshift memorial site for Diego on Monday afternoon in the parking lot behind the Blue Kangaroo laundromat.

The site had a circle of orange cones that were connected by yellow caution tape. A light pole next to the parking lot was adorned with flowers, candles, balloons and images of Diego Arriaga,

Messages written on the ground in chalk said, “RIP my bro Diego,” and “RIP Diego, we never forget you.” A cross was also drawn in chalk and surrounded by candles, snacks and a water bottle.

Elizabeth Arriaga said she and her mother live near the laundromat and heard gunshots at the time of the incident.

“Me and my mom, we heard the gunshots and we didn’t know, we just went right back to sleep,” she said.

She and Juan Arriaga said they didn’t know who Ortiz-Arias was.

Will County Coroner Laurie Summers would not identify the victim of the shooting, saying she was declining to do so because “he’s a minor.”

The coroner’s office has usually identified juvenile homicide victims in the past, including Jeremiah Frazier, 17, who was shot and killed in Joliet on Feb. 9, 2020, Javier Cayetano, 13, who was shot and killed in Joliet on Feb. 21, 2019, and 17-month-old Sema’j Crosby, who died in Joliet Township on April 27, 2017, from suffocation.

Summers said her policy is that if they are a minor, all she will do is release preliminary information without the minor’s name.

“But for me, that’s how I want to do and I am within my rights to do it,” Summers said.

English said he couldn’t confirm the name of the victim because of the victim’s age and because Summers has not identified him.

The criminal complaint did not specify what type of handgun Ortiz-Arias was charged with using during the incident.

The complaint accused Ortiz-Arias of carrying a handgun which was “uncased, loaded and immediately accessible at the time of the offense,” and also said he had not been issued a firearm owner’s identification card.

“The defendant, a person who was under 18 years of age, had in his possession a firearm of a size that may be concealed upon his person, and said firearm was a handgun,” the criminal complaint said.