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Montano Trial Advances as Body-Cam Video and Partner Testimony Emerge

Jurors this week are examining body camera recordings along with witness accounts of the March 2023 shooting of Officer Vásquez Lasso

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A large photo of police Officer Andrés Mauricio Vásquez Lasso is displayed before the start of his funeral Mass at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel on March 9, 2023, in Chicago. Vásquez Lasso was fatally shot in the line of duty in the Gage Park neighborhood on March 1, 2023. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Rocio Lasso, center, the mother of slain Chicago police Officer Andrés Mauricio Vásquez Lasso, walks through the lobby of the Leighton Criminal Court Building on July 15, 2025, during a break in the trial of her son’s accused killer. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Overview

  • A Cook County jury was sworn in on July 14 and heard opening statements on July 15 at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.
  • Prosecutors launched the evidence phase by playing Officer Lasso’s body-worn camera footage capturing the fatal foot pursuit near Sawyer Elementary.
  • Lasso’s wife, Milena Estepa, took the stand to describe her husband’s final morning before his shift and the rush to Mount Sinai Hospital after he was shot.
  • Officer Miguel Enciso, Lasso’s partner, testified that Montano, wounded at the scene, pleaded with him to kill him as children took cover under playground equipment.
  • Defense attorneys portrayed Montano, then 18, as panicked during the chase and indicated plans to call him to testify as more than 20 witnesses are expected this week.