Boyfriend, 2nd man charged with murder in pregnant teen's shooting death in suburban Chicago

12/29/2013

CHICAGO — Suburban Chicago police investigating the fatal Christmas shooting of a pregnant teenager as an alleged drug deal went awry nearby have charged her boyfriend and his brother with first-degree murder.

Eva Casara, whose baby survived and remains hospitalized, wasn’t an intended target — nor was she involved in the situation police believe was a drug deal that spiraled out of control, Dolton Police Chief John Franklin told the Chicago Sun-Times (http://bit.ly/KeoXnB ) Saturday.

The 17-year-old girl was “just in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong company,” he said.

Charged are her boyfriend, Anthony Lee, 16, and his brother, Diante Lamont Coakley, 21, both from Dolton, a suburb south of Chicago. It wasn’t immediately clear if either Lee or Coakley had lawyers. They were due in bond court Sunday.

Casara, who was 5½ months pregnant, was pronounced dead early Thursday — several hours after the Wednesday shooting. But doctors were able to save the Calumet City teen’s baby.

Police believe Casara was moved and left outside at another location after she was shot, Franklin said.

While Casara was not a target, the police chief stopped short of calling her death an accident.

“It’s hard to call it an accident when you’re firing a gun in the direction of people,” he said.

Casara’s aunt, Melody Vargas, told the Sun-Times: “She was just a victim of their stupidity, and they need to pay for it.”