‘Throw away the key’: Paroled felon charged with killing 3 in mass shooting in Chicago
A recently paroled felon has been charged with gunning down three people — and then shooting one of their daughters in the head — leading Chicago’s top cop to beg judges to “throw away the key” and finally get him “off our streets.”
Samuel Parsons-Salas, 32, was caught on camera grabbing a gun from a vehicle outside Vera’s Lounge early Sunday — then picking out his victims, shooting some at point-blank range, the Chicago Sun-Times said.
The daughter of one of the three people killed was seen running up to her fallen father — just for Parsons-Salas to walk up and shoot her in the head, leaving her in critical condition, the paper said.
The violent felon — who was finally arrested Monday after running from SWAT cops — was also charged with kidnapping a woman he allegedly held hostage while fleeing the scene, police said.
The killing spree came less than three months after Parsons-Salas was paroled after a 2014 conviction for an armed home invasion in which two people were shot dead, the Sun-Times said.
“Throw away the key,” Chicago’s top cop, Supt. David Brown, seethed at a press conference. “Get this person off our streets,” he said.
“Don’t release him on electronic monitoring because he is a danger not only to this community but to the city of Chicago at large. Throw the book at him,” Brown pleaded with judges in the crime-ridden Democratic city.
Parsons-Salas had been attending a party at the Vera Lounge celebrating the 25th birthday of Maria Vera, the woman left “fighting for her life” after being shot in the head, Brown said.
He grabbed the gun after being kicked out of the party, repeatedly opening fire once confronted outside.
Vera’s 50-year-old father, Ricky Vera, and Mario Pozuelos, 26, were pronounced dead at the scene. Mercedes Tavares, a 24-year-old mother of three, was pronounced dead later at a hospital.
Pozuelos’ family told the local paper they were “at a loss for words.”
“He was taken from us too soon due to a senseless act of gun violence,” the family said. “Our Mario had his whole life ahead.”
Parsons-Salas is charged with three counts of murder as well as attempted murder and kidnapping. He was expected in bond court on Wednesday.
With Post wires
