Man fatally shot in route to work on Northwest Side

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A man was shot to death on his way to work early Friday morning in the 3600-block of North St. Louis in Chicago's Irving Park neighborhood.

Manuel Arizaga, 35, left his house at around 4:30 a.m., kissed his wife goodbye and walked three blocks to where his truck was parked near Waveland and Kimball. Police say someone shot him in the head, leaving his wallet and backpack.

Arizaga's wife, Eliannet Estrada, weeps at the scene where her husband was shot and killed just steps away from their Irving Park home.

"I can't understand it. I don't believe it yet. I don't believe it," she said. "There's no way to explain. Right now I'm destroyed. I'm sorry."

A native of Ecuador, Arizaga was a furniture delivery driver who was heading into work. He had a 1-year-old baby girl.

"Think about the daughter. Now she has to live without a father and that is very, very unfair," said Jennifer Vera, the victim's cousin.

"There's no reason, I don't find any reason that he got killed like this," said Manuel Vera, the victim's uncle.

Meanwhile, neighbors have been leaving flowers at Arizaga's growing memorial.

"It's amazing that you think you can be safe in a neighborhood and you get up to go to work and something like this happens - especially right in your own neighborhood. It's just terrible," said Jodi Lanis, a neighbor.