Thread: Docs: Chicago man buys beer after allegedly killing pregnant woman found in garbage b

Docs: Chicago man buys beer after allegedly killing pregnant woman found in garbage bags


Andy Koval


Tue, April 2, 2024 at 9:53 AM EDT·1 min read



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CHICAGO — A man was charged with murder in Cook County after allegedly killing a pregnant woman and dumping her body in the north suburbs. Court documents allege Juan Vega Montoya bought beer after the murder and hid Megan Lewis’ body in his car for two days.

On Nov. 26, Vega Montoya was accused of picking up Lewis near Cicero and Belden in Chicago.

Prosecutors believe he strangled her to death during an argument in his car. He’s accused of buying beer directly after the murder. Back at his home, Vega Montoya allegedly put her body into the back of his sedan and placed a t-shirt over the driver’s window to conceal.

He later told police the next evening he drove north for about an hour “until the expressway turned into a roadway.”

The body of Lewis was found in garbage bags on the side of Hunt Club Road in Old Mill Creek on the morning of Nov. 29.

A DNA test was obtained after Vega Montoya was taken into custody on Dec. 11. Court documents state a fingernail and earring belonging to Lewis was found inside the car.
Lewis was 16 weeks pregnant at the time.

Previous: Man accused of strangling pregnant Chicago woman, dumping body in north suburbs

Detectives later learned that he allegedly texted his supervisor the day after the murder that he overslept and was running late.

Vega Montoya was initially charged in Lake County with concealment of a homicidal death.

At the time, suburban police said additional charges were expected in Cook County.








https://www.yahoo.com/news/docs-chic...135331120.html

Authorities say Chicago man killed pregnant woman before dumping her body along Lake County road





By CLIFFORD WARD

PUBLISHED: December 13, 2023 at 12:53 p.m. | UPDATED: December 13, 2023 at 5:53 p.m.





A Chicago man has been charged in connection with the killing of a pregnant woman whose body was found dumped along a Lake County roadway last month, the Lake County sheriff’s office said Wednesday.

Juan Vega-Montoya, 37, was charged with concealment of a homicide after an investigation that began Nov. 29, when the body of Megan Lewis, 39, of Chicago, was found on the shoulder of Hunt Club Road in northern Lake County, authorities said.

Police said that they believe Vega-Montoya strangled Lewis in Chicago two days before dumping her body. Lake County investigators have turned over their findings to Chicago police so they can pursue additional charges, the sheriff’s office said.

Vega-Montoya, police said, picked up Lewis on Nov. 26 near the intersection of Cicero Avenue and West Belden Avenue in Chicago. Police said they got into an argument inside the vehicle and that Vega-Montoya strangled Lewis to death.

Lewis was about four months pregnant, police said.

Authorities say Vega-Montoya, after the alleged killing, drove back to his home in the 2100 block of Narragansett Avenue, with Lewis’s body inside the vehicle. Two nights later, police say, he dumped Lewis’ body along Hunt Club Road, near the Illinois Route 173 intersection.

Police said they reviewed numerous hours of video to build their case.

On Monday, police conducting surveillance near his home saw Vega-Montoya driving. He was taken into custody following a traffic stop, and police said they found additional evidence of the homicide inside the vehicle.

Lake County prosecutors said they have filed a petition to detain Vega-Montoya in the county jail.

“It is simply unconscionable to kill someone then dump their body on the side of a roadway, in a humiliating fashion,” Sheriff John Idleburg said. “I am very proud of the members of our Office who spent countless hours seeking evidence and searching for Megan’s killer.”

The Homeland Security Investigations’ Chicago Field Office; Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Chicago Field Office; the Berwyn Police Department; the Lake County state’s attorney’s office; the Lake County coroner’s office and the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory, all assisted in the investigation, the sheriff’s office said.





https://www.chicagotribune.com/2023/...e-county-road/