A Cook County jury has convicted forty-something Hillside resident Joseph Verdone of first-degree murder for running over and killing 22-year-old Enrique Martinez outside a West Loop nightclub in September 2022, nearly four years before the verdict came down. Verdone drove his sedan onto the sidewalk in the 100 block of North Lind Avenue and struck Martinez, who died at the scene, before fleeing the area.
According to ABC7 Chicago, the jury returned its guilty verdict this week, and Verdone is due back in court for a pre-sentencing hearing on September 22. The station reports he faces several years in prison as a result of the conviction, though the case has taken years to reach this point since the fatal crash.
An Argument Outside The Mine Music Hall Turned Deadly
The roots of the case trace back to roughly 4:18 a.m. on the night of the crash, when Verdone exchanged “heated words” with Martinez outside The Mine Music Hall at 1431 West Lake Street, according to Cook County prosecutors cited by CWB Chicago. Martinez, a former employee of the club who was there as a patron, reportedly got into the confrontation with Verdone after club security had ejected Verdone and his girlfriend following a disruption.
Prosecutors said surveillance footage reviewed after the crash showed Verdone driving onto the sidewalk and “carefully” centering his vehicle between a building and trees positioned behind Martinez and a companion before accelerating directly into them. The outlet reported that Martinez was dragged 60 feet, and that the vehicle did not slow down until Verdone ran a red light at Randolph Street while fleeing. Martinez, a 22-year-old resident of Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood, had been walking toward Ogden Avenue with a friend when he was struck.
Forensic Evidence Led Police to Verdone’s Door
When Chicago police tracked down Verdone’s vehicle outside his Hillside home in the days following the crash, they found it freshly washed but still bearing body damage consistent with the impact, along with a substance suspected to be blood on its undercarriage, per the same CWB Chicago account. That evidence became central to prosecutors’ argument that the collision was no accident…