(WTTW News)

An apparent road rage incident between two vehicles preceded a Chicago man shooting and killing a 25-year-old driver in the North Park neighborhood late last year, according to Cook County prosecutors.

Alexis Del Toro, 23, was charged Thursday with first-degree murder in the December 2021 killing of Baghirov Gurban, who was fatally shot while driving in the 5500 block of North Kedzie Avenue.

According to Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy, Gurban was driving a black 2020 Hyundai in that area around 7:50 p.m. on Dec. 21 when he was passed at a high rate of speed by a stolen Jeep that was allegedly driven by Del Toro.

Gurban then tried unsuccessfully to pass the Jeep multiple times before pulling up parallel to the other vehicle. At that point, Del Toro allegedly stuck his arm out the driver’s side window of the Jeep and fired six shots into Gurban’s vehicle, striking him in the head.

The shooting was recorded on the rear-facing camera of a nearby Uber, according to Murphy. He added that a witness who had completed a drug deal with Del Toro minutes before the shooting identified him as the driver of the Jeep, and surveillance cameras recorded that vehicle parked in an alley behind Del Toro’s home multiple times in the days after the shooting.

Del Toro’s cellphone also allegedly pinged along the route taken from the drug deal, to the scene of Gurban’s murder and then as he fled the scene. That same Jeep was involved in a crash days later, and Murphy said video showed Del Toro and another male fleeing on foot afterwards.

As the vehicle was processed by police, they found Del Toro’s fingerprints on a water bottle left in the driver’s side door, Murphy said.

On Tuesday, Chicago police conducted a traffic stop when Del Toro allegedly fled from the passenger’s side of that vehicle and ran into an apartment building in the 3900 block of North Kedzie Avenue.

As police were setting up a perimeter around the building, an officer in an alleyway outside heard a crash and noticed a bag that had been dropped from an opened apartment window, Murphy said.

Del Toro was subsequently arrested, and investigators found two handguns and narcotics inside the bag.

One of those guns was a 10mm Glock, and Murphy said ballistics testing tied that firearm to two shell casings recovered from the area where Gurban was killed.

Those shell casings were also allegedly matched to casings found in two previous shootings. In one of those incidents, a woman identified Del Toro as the driver of a vehicle who shot at her while they were in traffic last October, Murphy said.

During Thursday’s hearing, Judge Mary Catherine Marubio ordered Del Toro held without bail. He is due back in court April 26.

Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431