BRUTAL

Duo Accused of Fatally Beating Man as He Put Up Xmas Lights With His Daughter

Pedro Mendiola, 21, and Moises Barrios, 23, allegedly attacked 14 people in a brutal assault spree across Chicago.

Two young adults in Chicago were charged with first-degree murder—among dozens of other felonies—after they allegedly beat a man trying to put up his Christmas lights to death in December. Pedro Mendiola, 21, and Moises Barrios, 23, allegedly went on a brutal assault spree on Dec. 11, attacking 14 people on the city’s Southwest Side, police said. Between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., the two allegedly targeted multiple people to rob them, culminating in the murder of Jose Tellez, 49, by baseball bat and crowbar. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said Tellez “was doing what many of us were doing and should be expected to do during the holidays, hanging Christmas lights with his daughter before being tragically and senselessly beaten to death.” Mendiola and Barrios were also charged with more than two dozen counts of aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon, armed robbery with a dangerous weapon, and criminal damage to property.