Woman says boyfriend was shooter in 2004 slaying

January 9, 2007
By MATT HANLEY Staff Writer
The credibility of a defendant's girlfriend was questioned in the first day of a trial for a 2004 Aurora murder.

Ivan Perez of the 600 block of North Avenue was 16 when he allegedly fired one shot out of his girlfriend's mother's car, killing Francisco Reyes Jr., 19, of Aurora. Kane County prosecutors argue that Perez's girlfriend, Carrie Forbes, is the best witness as to who fired the fatal shots.

"Carrie should know," said Assistant State's Attorney Pam Monaco. "She is in the best position to know what happened."

According to prosecutors, at around noon on Jan. 9, 2004, Forbes picked Perez up from his house and decided to cruise around Aurora, smoking marijuana as they drove. While driving on North Avenue, Forbes testified that Perez spotted a car driven by Reyes, who Perez believed was a rival gang member.

"Those are flakes," Forbes testified Perez told her. "Go get them."

Forbes testified that she turned around and followed Reyes' black car until it reached a stop sign at Fifth Street and North Avenue. Forbes said she pulled alongside Reyes, just inches between their cars, when Perez reached into his pocket, pulled out a gun, then rolled down his window and shot once through the windshield. The shot hit Reyes in the face.

"I looked back in the rear view mirror and there was a bullet in the window," Forbes said. "I asked why he did it and he told me because he had to."

Perez later told Forbes not to talk to police. But later that day, she was arrested.

Defense attorney Kathleen Colton challenged Forbes' statements, pointing out that she originally told police that another man, "Jesus," had shot Reyes and provided investigators with his address and phone number.

Colton says Forbes was now "straightening out her lies" so that she wouldn't be charged with murder.

"I was scared," Forbes said. "My boyfriend just shot someone. I was scared for me."

The trial is expected to resume at 9 a.m. today in the Kane County courthouse in St. Charles Township.


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