A man has been charged with setting a fire in his Cicero apartment building to cover up the shooting death of his roommate last month.
Police say that around 9:15 p.m. on Nov. 3, officers and firefighters responded to reports of an explosion and fire in a three-story building on the 1800 block of South 51st Avenue.
During their search, firefighters found 29-year-old Jesus Nunez dead on the first floor with a gunshot wound to the head. Several residents were evacuated, but no one else was injured. An autopsy confirmed Nunez had been shot before the fire began.
Investigators determined that Nunez’s roommate, 37-year-old Naman Alfredo Vazquez, allegedly used an accelerant to ignite a mattress in an attempt to disguise the killing, according to police and Cook County prosecutors.
Vazquez fled to New Mexico and was arrested the next day during a traffic stop, authorities said.
Prosecutors later secured an arrest warrant charging him with aggravated arson and concealment of a homicide. He has not been charged with Nunez’s murder, but police say the investigation is still active.
Vazquez was extradited to Illinois on Friday. At his first court appearance Sunday, a Cook County judge ordered him held in jail while awaiting trial. He was scheduled to return to court on Tuesday.