Palatine man charged in girlfriend’s fatal shooting

A Cook County judge this week ordered a northwest suburban man detained in custody after prosecutors accused him of killing his girlfriend in late November.

Sergio Velasquez-Fuentes, of Palatine, faces one count of first-degree murder for the death of his girlfriend, Fatima Lizeth Escalante Matamoros.

Velasquez-Fuentes, 43, allegedly shot Matamoros, 42, in the head on the threshold of his home as she called a taxi to go home the night of Nov. 29, according to a pretrial detention petition. The pair had been dating for a few months, the petition stated.

The taxi driver watched Velasquez-Fuentes shoot Matamoros, and then carry her back inside, according to the petition. Velasquez-Fuentes then told his cousin on the phone that Matamoros had shot herself, prosecutors said.

Investigators found a gun that matched the make of the weapon Velasquez-Fuentes was known to have, blood on the front porch and blood-soaked clothing inside the home on the 1700 block of North Hicks Road, according to a pretrial detention order.

Palatine police said Velasquez-Fuentes was first stopped by Streamwood police while driving into Indiana the next day. He was detained and released on Dec. 2 as the investigation continued.

When Palatine police obtained an arrest warrant Dec. 13, they learned that Velasquez-Fuentes was in federal custody “on an unrelated matter.” According to the pretrial detention order, Velasquez-Fuentes returned to Illinois from Indiana and was taken into U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement custody.

Velasquez-Fuentes had planned to return to Honduras, where he is from, in December, according to the pretrial detention petition.

Judge Ellen Beth Mandeltort on Tuesday ordered him held pending trial, record show. He is next scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 29.