A 22-year-old Chicago man went on trial this week accused of gunning down 14-year-old Damien Abenante as the teen walked toward baseball fields with a group of friends in Whiting, Indiana, in March 2024. Leonardo Nunez has pleaded not guilty to murder, and prosecutors opened their case.
Abenante was shot at 5:20 p.m. on March 23, 2024, after leaving his teen cousin's birthday celebration on the 1600 block of La Porte Avenue, according to the Chicago Tribune. He was a freshman at De La Salle Institute, a private Catholic high school in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, and had traveled to visit family that weekend, according to CBS News.
Nunez's phone was in the area when the teen was shot.
Conflicting Accounts of What Happened That Evening
Whiting police responded to the 1600 block of La Porte Avenue and found a pair of white shoes and a cellphone abandoned on the sidewalk, the Tribune reported. A witness who was with Abenante told investigators he heard two pops before seeing a male in a red sweatshirt running from the scene.
The defense disputed the prosecution's account, the Tribune reported.
A charging affidavit further alleges that Nunez went to Advocate Trinity Hospital in Chicago the day after the shooting for treatment of a gunshot wound.
A Fatal Trip to St. Catherine's
Abenante was taken to St. Catherine's in East Chicago, where he was pronounced dead. The Lake County Coroner's Office reported he was shot in the chest, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Days after the shooting, on April 20, 2024, relatives and community members gathered for a candle-lighting vigil and balloon release on the same block of La Porte Avenue, according to CBS News.
An Extradition and a Family Already Scarred by the Justice System
Nunez was apprehended by the Lake County Sheriff's Department. His arrest date was May 24, 2024. His murder charge was unsealed after his extradition from Cook County Jail in Illinois to Indiana, and he made his initial appearance in Lake County Superior Court in Crown Point on June 7, 2024, according to the NWI Times.
The investigation involved multiple agencies.
Damien Abenante was the son of Alexander Villa, whose case involved the 2011 murder of off-duty Chicago Police Officer Clifton Lewis, according to The Guardian. Villa's case became part of a wrongful-conviction controversy.
Stiff Penalties and an Illinois-Indiana Case
If convicted, Nunez faces a fixed prison term of between 45 and 65 years under Indiana Code § 35-50-2-3, with an advisory sentence of 55 years and fines up to $10,000, according to FindLaw.
The case involves Chicago and Whiting, Indiana.
