A man has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for ordering the hit and acting as the getaway driver for a gunman who shot two men in the head, killing one, at Poppy’s restaurant in Waukegan.
Fernando Andino, 20, of Waukegan, was charged in June 2022 with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated fleeing and eluding.
A second man, Jorge Medina, 20, of Waukegan, was charged in June 2022 with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Dino Katris said during an initial court hearing for Medina that the Waukegan Police Department responded around 4:51 p.m. on May 29, 2022, to Poppy’s, 1535 Washington Street in Waukegan, for a report of a person shot.
Officers found two men with gunshot wounds to their heads on the sidewalk near the parking lot of the business off of Washington Park.
The business was open at the time and customers were present.
Stefan Filipovic, 24, of Waukegan, died in the shooting while a second victim, a 28-year-old Waukegan man, was rushed to the hospital and survived.
Investigators obtained surveillance videos that captured the shooting.
Katris said the video showed a male wearing a black hoodie, gray sweatpants and a black face mask walking northbound on Washington Park towards Washington Street.
Filipovic and the second victim were both standing on the sidewalk area speaking with a witness in a car that was parked on Washington Park on the side of the business.
The shooter, determined to be Medina, approached the victims and took a shooting stance in the parking lot of Poppy’s.
Medina, who was about 10 feet away from the victims, fired multiple shots at the two victims, Katris said.
Filipovic and the second victim immediately dropped to the ground after both being shot in the head.
In the moments before the shooting, surveillance video showed Medina exiting the front passenger seat of a vehicle approximately a block away from the shooting and walking in the direction of the victims, Katris said.
The vehicle drove northbound on Washington Park and stopped at the intersection of Washington Park and Washington Street.
The vehicle, a BMW 325 that was registered to Andino, drove around the block and picked up Medina, who had turned around and ran south on Washington Park.
Officers spotted the BMW around 7:30 p.m. that day and attempted to conduct a traffic stop on it.
The vehicle did not stop and officers pursued it for several minutes.
The BMW disregarded multiple red lights and stop signs and drove at speeds of over 100 mph, Katris said.
The BMW’s tire blew out at one point and the vehicle came to a stop at Sheridan Road and Franklin Street.
Andino, who was the driver and sole occupant, was taken into custody.
Investigators searched his phone and recovered text messages regarding the shooting.
Katris said that Andino told investigators that he saw Filipovic at Poppy’s and believed Filipovic was involved in the unsolved shooting case of his friend from 2021.
The mother of Filipovic told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that her son was not a gang member and the suspects mistook him for the wrong person.
Andino texted his friend asking about the man he spotted at Poppy’s and then texted that he was going to get Medina.
Andino claimed to be scared because he did not have a gun so he went to pick up Medina at his house, Katris said.
Surveillance video showed a man being picked up at Medina’s residence minutes before the shooting.
Video was used to track the vehicle and its two occupants from Medina’s residence to the block where the shooter was dropped.
Andino said that while in the car, Medina changed into a black hoodie and gray sweatpants and was armed with a gun, Katris said.
Andino told investigators he dropped Medina at a street corner a block from the shooting and stopped his car at the intersection of Washington Park and Washington Street, next to Poppy’s.
Katris said that Andino heard and saw the shooting and then drove around to pick up Medina.
Medina got into the vehicle and told Andino he “dropped both of them.”
Katris said that Andino texted his friend again, this time saying he saw the dude “get hit” and “seen them drop.” Andino then dropped Medina off at his house.
A jury trial for Medina began in late August and lasted four days. Andino testified against his co-defendant during the trial.
The jury convicted Medina on one count of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
After the verdict, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said the trial team consisting of assistant state’s attorneys Lauren Kalcheim Rothenberg, Scott Hoffert and Ayah Elfarra, along with state’s attorney investigators and victim specialists, did “fantastic work to bring justice for the victims and their families.”
Rinehart called the shooting a “calculated attack” that warrants a very high prison sentence.
“This type of calculated attack warrants a very high prison sentence in order to protect the community and to tell others when you engage in violence, you will face arrest and severe consequences,” Rinehart said, adding that the Waukegan Police Department conducted a thorough and effective investigation in the case.
Andino earlier this year pleaded guilty to aggravated battery with a firearm, which carries a maximum of 30 years in prison.
A sentencing hearing was held Wednesday afternoon in front of Lake County Judge Daniel Shanes.
During the hearing, the judge heard two victim impact statements from Filipovic’s parents.
The statements described Andino’s actions as vicious and thoughtless acts that led to the 24-year-old man’s life being cut short.
Filipovic’s parents said they were left picking out flowers for his funeral instead of picking out gifts for his 25th birthday last year.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Lauren Kalcheim Rothenberg said Filipovic’s life was full of hope and that Andino’s actions led to the senseless, cold-blooded murder.
Shanes sentenced Andino to 26 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
“Neither Medina nor Andino had prior convictions. When we think about young individuals gaining access to guns and solving their disputes violently, it is clear we need to push deeper into root causes even as we also sentence these offenders to decades in prison after the fact,” Rinehart said Wednesday following the sentencing.
Medina remains held in the Lake County Jail without bond. He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 26.
Medina faces a minimum of 45 years in prison and a maximum of life in the Illinois Department of Corrections.