A 19-year-old man is charged with murder after allegedly shooting his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend to death in the parking lot of a busy Bridgeport grocery store last year.
Adrian Soto and his girlfriend drove to a Mariano’s in the 3100 block of South Ashland Avenue on Nov. 7, 2021, so she could pick up her two children from the ex-boyfriend, according to Cook County prosecutors in court Friday.
Prosecutors said Nicholas John Narolewski, 22, parked in the lot with the couple’s children and his mother for the exchange. Prosecutors claim that when Soto’s girlfriend returned to her car with the children, he got out and walked over to Narolewski, where he began arguing with him.
Prosecutors said Soto pulled out a 9mm handgun and fired repeatedly at Narolewski, striking him six times. Narolewski, who was unarmed, died of his injuries shortly after.
Soto fled and was seen throwing away a gun and a hooded sweatshirt as he fled, both of which were recovered by detectives. Several witnesses to the shooting identified Soto as the shooter, according to prosecutors. At least one surveillance camera captured the shooting.
Prosecutors said that eleven shell casings found at the scene all matched the handgun, and evidence collected from the gun and hoodie matched Soto’s DNA.
According to court records, Soto, then 18, was arrested in January in a separate murder case.
Soto allegedly opened fire from the street on Jan. 26 at a home in the 2500 block of West 45th Place where a woman he used to date was hosting a party. Officials said Hector Flores, 33, who was inside the house, was killed in the hail of bullets.
In that case, Soto pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder charges, which are still pending. Soto was being held without bail when he was charged with Narolewski’s murder this week, according to court records.
According to an assistant public defender, Soto previously worked in construction and was studying for his GED while incarcerated. According to the defense attorney, Soto was bullied in high school and “encountered some troubling moments” that could later become relevant in the case.
On the most recent charge, Judge Mary Marubio ordered him held without bail. He was scheduled to appear in court again on November 23.
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