Lake County jurors heard opening statements and the first witnesses in the murder trial of Jasperin Melendez, who was 19 when he shot Fabian Cortez-Milan, 30, outside the Grayslake-area party on Oct. 21, 2017.
A trial began Tuesday for a Waukegan man, with attorneys and a witness describing how a fatal shooting outside a 2017 Halloween party was sparked weeks earlier by an incident at another social gathering.
Assistant State’s Attorney Sharmila Manik told jurors they would see phone video of the fatal shooting, and told them to pay attention to people recorded on video telling Melendez to “put your poles down” because Cortez-Milan was not armed. Melendez and Cortez-Milan had been arguing loudly when Melendez walked to a car, removed his sweatshirt and then walked suddenly toward Cortez-Milan and shot him, Manik said.
The spark for the fatal encounter occurred several weeks before, Jen Milan, the sister of Cortez-Milan, testified.