A man who once served a lengthy prison sentence for attempted murder is back in court, this time facing full-blown first-degree murder charges tied to a July 2023 murder in Back of the Yards.
Prosecutors say 40-year-old Max Hernandez was the getaway driver for two gunmen who killed 24-year-old Leonardo Martinez and critically injured his 25-year-old brother on July 4, 2023. Hernandez was arrested recently at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center, where he was being paroled on a separate gun case filed just weeks after the Independence Day slaying.
Prosecutors in January charged 29-year-old Luis Vela with being one of the shooters who killed Martinez. Cook County prosecutors said both men were linked to the slaying through cellphone location data, surveillance video, and DNA recovered from inside the getaway car.
Around 7:20 a.m. on the day of the murder, the shooters opened fire in the 4400 block of South Wood, striking the Martinez brothers. Leonardo died at the scene. Detectives determined the getaway car had been at Diversey Harbor shortly before the attack. Additional video from the harbor allegedly showed Vela getting into the vehicle while wearing the same clothes as one of the shooters…