A man has been charged after gunmen opened fire on a car, killing an “innocent woman” on her way home from work in Waukegan, in what investigators believe was a case of mistaken identity.
The Waukegan Police Department and Waukegan Fire Department responded around 1:10 a.m. on September 17 to the area of Elmwood Avenue and Melrose Avenue in Waukegan for a report of a shooting.
Officers arrived and found a woman shot inside of a black Toyota Corolla, prosecutors said.
Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek identified the victim as Yessenia Novoa-Poveda, 48, of Waukegan.
Novoa-Poveda was transported by ambulance to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan.
She was pronounced dead in the emergency room after arriving at the hospital, Banek said.
Two other people were in the car with Novoa-Poveda at the time of the shooting and were uninjured.
The three had been carpooling home together from work, prosecutors said.
An autopsy was conducted on Novoa-Poveda and Banek said the results showed that Novoa-Poveda died from a gunshot wound to the back.
Court records show Johnathan D. White, 20, of Zion, was charged on September 25 with three counts of first-degree murder.
An arrest warrant was issued and White was taken into custody on Thursday.
Prosecutors said video surveillance showed a passenger, later identified as White, exit a vehicle and open fire on the Toyota Corolla.
Two other occupants of the suspect vehicle also began opening fire on the Toyota from inside the suspect vehicle.
Prosecutors said that investigators believe the suspects misidentified the car Novoa-Poveda was inside.
The suspects were seeking retaliation for a prior shooting that occurred in August.
Prosecutors called Novoa-Poveda an “innocent woman” who was killed in the middle of a residential street while on the way home from work.
An obituary for Novoa-Poveda said she enjoyed being home with her family and was always attentive to their care.
She migrated to Waukegan just months prior to her death with the dream of a better future for her son, her obituary said.
White appeared for a First Appearance Court hearing on Friday morning.
He remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear for a detention hearing on Tuesday.
The two other suspects in the case, who investigators have identified, are not in the custody of the jail yet.