Judge Sets $5M Bond For Pair Charged With Fatally Shooting Waukegan Volleyball Coach

Niolis Collazo (GoFundMe)Niolis Collazo (GoFundMe)

A Lake County judge set bail at $5 million for a pair of teenagers accused of killing a Waukegan volleyball coach last month.

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David Dejesus, 16, and Yahir A. Torrecilla, 17, have each been arrested and charged as adults with first-degree murder stemming from the fatal May 6 shooting of 23-year-old Niolis Collazo.

Appearing in court Friday, a judge issued each of the teens a $5 million bond.

“Our office is proud of the Waukegan Police Department, who has been working tirelessly on investigating this incident, and of our First Assistant Lauren Callinan, and Chief Deputy of the Criminal Division, Jeff Facklam who worked closely with the Waukegan detectives,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a statement. “Our office will support the victim’s family and seek justice in the courtroom.”

According to Lake County prosecutors, Waukegan police responded to a report of shots fired in the area of 10th Street and Lewis Avenue just after 10:30 p.m. on May 6. Officers arriving at that location discovered Collazo unresponsive inside her vehicle.

She was transported to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Prosecutors said police recovered surveillance videos that allowed them to identify a vehicle involved in that shooting, which was later found to be registered to a relative of Dejesus.

Dejesus was pulled over on May 11 while allegedly driving that same vehicle, which was seized by police. According to prosecutors, a police investigation revealed that Dejesus and Torrecilla were occupants in that vehicle at the time of the shooting.

Collazo coached the Waukegan High School boys volleyball team and graduated from the high school in 2018, according to a GoFundMe that sought to raise money for funeral expenses. She also worked as a counselor for a Chicago-based program called “Working On Womanhood” and counseled and mentored girls at Waukegan Smith Middle School, according to the fundraiser.

That GoFundMe has raised more than $52,000 as of Friday afternoon.

As they are each juveniles, Dejesus and Torrecilla are being held at the Hulse Detention Center in Vernon Hills, prosecutors said.

Dejesus is due back in court for a hearing Thursday, while Torrecilla’s next appearance is scheduled for next Friday.

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


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