On March 29, 2021, Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old Latino American boy, was shot and killed by Chicago Police Department (CPD) officer Eric Stillman in the Little Village neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago at 2:38am local time.
On April 10, during a proffer reading in court for criminal charges filed against the adult who gave Toledo the handgun involved in the incident, a Cook County assistant prosecutor falsely told the judge that Toledo was holding the gun at the time Toledo was shot; the assistant prosecutor was later placed on administrative leave for this statement. On April 15, Stillman's body cam video recording was released, showing Toledo running away and dropping a handgun before he turned towards Stillman and raised his empty hands. According to the Chicago Police Department, Stillman shot at the boy less than a second after he dropped the gun. An area resident who said she witnessed the shooting from her apartment window across the street said that Toledo was complying with the officer's requests when he was shot.
The release of the body cam video sparked protests in Chicago and around the country. Toledo was one of the youngest people killed by the police in the state of Illinois in years. His death has been connected by some analysts to a broader pattern of disproportionate police violence against Latinos and other children of color. It also occurred as the United States was grappling with several high-profile cases of police killing unarmed people of color.
In May 2021, the First Assistant State's Attorney who had reviewed the inaccurate proffer was forced to resign. In March 2022, authorities announced there would be no criminal charges brought against the officer involved in the killing of Toledo. The Assistant State's Attorney who gave the inaccurate proffer later became a judicial candidate in 2023.
People involved
Adam Toledo
Adam Toledo (May 26, 2007 – March 29, 2021) was Mexican American. At the time of his death, he was a seventh-grader in the special-education program at Gary Elementary School from the Little Village neighborhood in Chicago. He had no prior criminal record and was 13 years old when he was killed.
Ruben Roman
Ruben Roman is a 21-year-old who was with Toledo. He was arrested by the CPD at the scene. He is alleged to have ties to the Latin Kings criminal gang.
Eric Stillman
Eric Stillman is the 34-year-old police officer who shot Toledo. He has worked for the CPD since 2015. He was placed on administrative leave for 30 days following the incident. On May 6, 2021, it was announced Stillman had not returned to the CPD, though his routine leave had already ended.
On March 15, 2022, Kim Foxx’s office announced Stillman would not be charged for killing Toledo, due to “insufficient evidence” to file criminal charges. In April 2023, disciplinary charges alleging multiple rule violations in relation to Toledo's shooting were filed against Stillman, and the Department recommended that Stillman be fired. The decision regarding Stillman would be decided by the Chicago Police Board.
Incident
Initial reports
Prosecutors alleged that at around 2:30 a.m., Toledo and Roman were walking toward 24th Street when Roman fired multiple rounds as a vehicle passed. Police ShotSpotter detector technology registered shots fired and a squad car arrived at the scene. According to a statement from prosecutors, Toledo ran away from the officers that arrived, was chased into an alleyway, turned back to the officers with a gun in his hand, and was then shot by officer Eric Stillman in the chest. The police said that a handgun was recovered at the scene from behind a fence.