Mothers demand Chicago police do more to investigate sons' unsolved murders

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A group of mothers gathered at CPD district headquarters in Little Village Wednesday to demand police do more to investigate their sons' murders.

The group said the investigations into the deaths of Fernando Leon in 2020 and Harry David Rodriguez in 2011 are typical of those who have faltered due to lack of interest by investigators, and they want more federal resources deployed to get them answers.

Years after their deaths, members of the Little Village Community Council demanded a meeting with homicide detectives at the fifth district in Belmont Crigin.

"We voted for the governor and we want him to be more stronger on the violence the same way that he was when COVID came the first time," said Elizabeth Ramirez, mother of Henry David Rodriguez.

On May 30, 2020, as the pandemic accelerated, court records say Francesca Perez's son Fernando Leon was allegedly gunned down by his landlord, Hugo Alberto Garcia, a former U.S. Marine, at their shared multi-unit building in the 2300-block of Meade.

"My son's life matters," Perez said. "He needs justice."

Garcia was eventually charged with first degree murder and bonded out. He hasn't been seen since.

"Every day you get up and you think that it is a fight, every day," she said.

A senior investigator with the U.S. Marshals service told ABC News by phone they have a lead on Garcia's whereabouts as part of their Great Lakes Regional Task Force, which is a standing partnership with state and local law enforcement.

"It is ridiculous that some of them have 11 years waiting for an answer. That is torture," said Baltazar Enriquez, organizer of the Little Village Community Council. "These families do not need to be re-victimized again."

Chicago police would only say they continue to investigate these and similar cases in Little Village, and provided a community liaison officer trained to empathize with crime victims to meet with the mothers on Wednesday.

On concerns about systemic bias, the FBI would only say it will help state and local law enforcement when asked. And in the meantime mothers continue to press for monthly meetings with detectives, seeking justice for their kids and to heal their own pain.