Ex-boyfriend among 3 charged in plot to murder woman in North Chicago

Loading Video…

This browser does not support the Video element.

Three men are facing murder charges in connection with the targeted shooting of a woman last week in the northern suburbs, authorities said Monday.

Seferino Calihua-Rodriguez, 35, Misael Chavarin-Plazola, 26 and Rosalio Diaz-Zarate, 29, all of Waukegan, were arrested following an investigation into the shooting Friday morning in North Chicago, according to the Lake County state's attorney's office.

About 6:05 a.m., North Chicago police responded to a report of a shooting in the 100 block of Victoria Avenue, where officers found 33-year-old Cecilia Cuahua-Zopiyactle fatally shot inside a vehicle in a driveway.

Investigators said Calihua-Rodriguez had been dating Cuahua-Zopiyactle and was "extremely upset" when the relationship ended, the statement said. Calihua-Rodriguez allegedly hired Chavarin-Plazola to kill her, according to prosecutors.

(L-R) Seferino Calihua-Rodriguez, 35, and Misael Chavarin-Plazola, 26, and Rosalio Diaz-Zarate, 29. (Lake County Major Crime Task Force)

On the morning of Sept. 22, Cuahua-Zopiyactle was leaving for work and got into a car parked in a driveway on 11 Street, prosecutors said. As she was sitting in the vehicle, prosecutors said Chavarin-Plazola fatally shot her and shot at a second person who was getting into the vehicle, but missed. Chavarin-Plazola then fled in a vehicle driven by Diaz-Zarate, prosecutors said.

Calihua-Rodriguez was taken into custody later that same day and Chavarin-Plazola was arrested on Saturday. Authorities took Diaz-Zarate into custody on Monday.

The Lake County State's Attorney's Office charged Calihua-Rodriguez with two counts of first-degree murder, solicitation of murder for hire, and attempted first-degree murder. Chavarin-Plazola and Diaz-Zarate were each charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder, prosecutors said.

Chavarin-Plazola and Diaz-Zarate are expected to appear in court on Thursday for detention hearings, while Calihua-Rodriguez's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25.

Cuahua-Zopiyactle, recently of Waukegan and North Chicago, was originally from Veracruz, Mexico. An autopsy conducted on Sept. 22 found she died from multiple gunshot wounds.