Evergreen Park shooting: No bail for man charged with killing girlfriend her job at Mariano's

EVERGREEN PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- A Chicago man has been charged with fatally shooting his girlfriend, an employee at an Evergreen Park grocery store, at her job Thursday.

Evergreen Park police said Friday Armoni Henry, 21, of Chicago has been charged with first degree murder.

Henry appeared in bond court Friday where a Cook County judge denied him bail. The victim's family did not attend, but Henry's uncle, Henry Neal, was there.

"We love him so much," Neal said as he left court. "We tried our best to work with him. Although he had issues, he was a good kid."

Police said the shooting happened at about 9:12 a.m. at the Evergreen Park Mariano's on 95th Street.

Officers arrived on the scene and found Jailene Flores, 21, in the back storage room of the store with several gunshot wounds, police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Friends said the victim and suspect met in school and became friends. They also worked together at a nursing home in Oak Lawn earlier this year.

In court, prosecutors said after Armoni had confronted Flores several times in April, Flores got an order of protection against him. But the emergency order that was issued was never served and expired.

Armoni's family said he has a mental health issue and they don't know how he got his hands on a gun.

"He never expressed-they called each other best friends and I seen them together about two weeks ago," Neal said.

Armoni was taken into custody after the shooting when a license plate reader picked up the location of his red Ford Focus. A 9mm handgun was recovered from the car.

He is due back in court on August 11.

Dorian Johnson had just pulled into the parking lot when he saw customers running out of the store.

"I was sitting, I'm about to go in and next thing you know, everybody is just in the parking lot frantic," Johnson said. "Only thing that stopped me was I was on the phone, so I was about to walk in. The lady right next to me, she had just walked went in, and it was bad."

Police said video from inside the store shows the suspect following a 21-year-old woman into the store before he allegedly shot her in the back storage room.

"I've seen her plenty of times. I shop here real frequently, so it's kind of really sad," Johnson said.

Customers were inside when the gunfire rang out, but no one else was injured.

After the shooting, the suspect left in his vehicle. Within an hour, police said they were able to track down the suspect. Chopper 7HD was over the scene in the 1400-block of W. Thorndale Avenue as authorities arrested him in a red Ford Focus.

"This victim was a previous employee at the Amazon store in Oak Lawn, and had left there. Had an incident over there with this individual, the suspect, and left that store and began employment over here," said Evergreen Park Police Chief Michael Saunders. "Chicago police were, within an hour, through their camera system, able to make an arrest up north, with a suspect in his car, with a firearm, and he's in custody right now."

Police tweeted out that they believe the shooting is related to a domestic situation, and there is no threat to the public.

The Mariano's and surrounding stores have been closed in the meantime while police investigate.