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

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. - 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.