An ex-boyfriend has been charged with first-degree murder after his former partner was fatally shot in front of her home and children. The victim, identified as 34-year-old Maria Roque, was attacked in the early morning hours of December 13 in Chicago's South Austin neighborhood.
Kenneth Brown, 44, was apprehended last Friday and is now facing murder charges for the killing of Roque. Court records cited by ABC7 Chicago, indicate that the incident occurred in front of the victim's children. Roque had previously been granted an emergency order of protection against Brown, stemming from an earlier physical altercation between the pair.
Police reports and court documents reveal that on the morning of the incident, at approximately 6:20 a.m., Brown allegedly opened fire on Roque, who was outside her residence on the 500 block of North Long Avenue. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Roque sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter at Stroger Hospital.
The protective order, received on November 7 and extended twice subsequent to Brown's threatening behavior, which ranged from threats to burn Roque's car, to threats of destroying her windows, and her belongings, relatives said as conveyed by the Chicago Sun-Times. The order strictly prohibited Brown from contacting or approaching Roque, including bans on entering her residence and from harassing, stalking or intimidating her. It also prevented him from taking their 8-year-old daughter from Roque's care.
Before Brown's capture, authorities had sought the public's assistance in locating him and Cook County Crime Stoppers had announced a $15,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Following the arrest, George McDade, chairman of the Cook County Crime Stoppers, told the Sun-Times, "Everybody was doing and cooperating, giving as much information as possible" to aid the police in their investigation. Brown appeared in court this past Sunday, where he was remanded to the custody of the Cook County sheriff's office.
