Tylo Lapore Eddins, Jr., an 18-year-old man arrested for alleged burglaries and a fire alarm disturbance at the Killeen Mall, is now wanted in Illinois on six counts of first-degree murder coming from occurrences in the Chicago area. Eddins is currently being imprisoned at the Bell County Jail on local charges and faces extradition to Illinois on homicide allegations.
Illinois authorities accuse Eddins and Ishawn Pitts of embarking on a crime spree that started in Chicago. Officers rushed to Powell Avenue on February 24 and discovered Rodrigo Olivan, 28, and Ana Gil, 24, both with gunshot wounds. Police believe Pitts and Eddins targeted Olivan and Gil at random.
Eddins was thought to have started the day’s events by carjacking a Chicago Uber driver at gunpoint and abandoning him on an interstate ramp. Later, he allegedly committed an armed robbery on South Genesee Street in Waukegan, snatching $20 before meeting up with Pitts.
Eddins and Pitts are suspected of committing the murders of Olivan and Gil on Powell Avenue.
Following the homicides, the suspects drove their stolen Kia into a fence near Zion before fleeing.
Pitts was detained on February 29 for an aggravated violence warrant out of Round Lake and later confessed to the shootings before being charged with first-degree murder.
Eddins allegedly fled Waukegan after the homicides and was caught in Killeen, Texas. He is facing six counts of first-degree murder and is awaiting extradition.
Police describe the shootings as an “absolute travesty,” which apparently occurred at random.
Regarding the local instance, Ofelia Miramontez, a Killeen Police Department spokesperson, described an event that occurred at the Killeen Mall on Thursday. Officers responded to a disturbance report and found a man setting fire alarms. A further investigation found burglaries at multiple mall stores, with Eddins identified as the suspect using security footage.
Eddins was initially arrested for criminal trespass and is now facing additional accusations of building burglary. Authorities were ignorant of Eddin’s past during the mall incident and uncovered the outstanding warrants from Illinois during the arrest process.
