Man charged with murder of 14-year-old Chicago teen in Whiting

A Chicago man was charged last month in the death of a teenager in Whiting, court records show.

A criminal case was unsealed May 24 against Leonardo Nunez, 20, after he was extradited from the Cook County Jail following the March 23 death of Damien Abenante, 14, of Chicago.

Nunez is charged with one count of murder. He appeared in court Friday where his attorney, John Canrell, requested a bail review hearing, according to court documents. A date has not yet been set.

His next court appearance will be July 26. Nunez is currently being held without bail.

Whiting police responded around 5:30 a.m. March 23 to the 1600 block of La Porte Avenue.

Det. Brad Stelow wrote a pair of white shoes and a cell phone was still on the sidewalk. Abenante was taken to St. Catherine's on Chicago's East Side.

Three bullet casings were found in a yard across the street. By the time Stelow arrived at the hospital, Abenante had already died.

The Lake County Coroner's Office said the teen was shot in the chest. His death was ruled a homicide. No weapons were recovered.

A witness told police he heard two “pops” before seeing a man wearing a red sweatshirt running from the scene.

Security footage from about a block away captured a black Nissan heading toward Indianapolis Boulevard just after the shooting. The vehicle was registered to a relative of Nunez.

The driver was a “younger, light-skinned” man with “distinct facial features.” Police compared the images to Nunez's BMV photo.

A witness told Griffith Police he was with Abenante when he was shot. At the time, he was having problems with “Adonis” who he believed was Nunez's brother.

Court records indicate Nunez's phone was in the area when the teen was shot.

Nunez went to Advocate Trinity Hospital in Chicago for a gunshot wound on March 24, according to the affidavit.

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