Chicago teenager, 15, is found dead in alley after being 'drugged and raped' as two suspects are arrested
The body of Melissa Rendon, 15, was found in an Oak Park back alley around 8:30 am on August 7
The body of a Chicago teenager was found dumped in an alley after she had allegedly been drugged and raped.
Melissa Rendon, 15, recorded a series of Snapchat videos which show her in a car with three other people before she was found dead on August 6 in Oak Park.
Sergio Hernandez, 40, and Joslia Williams, 18, have been arrested in connection with her death. They've been charged with child pornography and concealment of death, according to the Chicago Tribune. Hernandez is also accused of sexual assault.
On the day she died, the trio and an unnamed witness were seen in Snapchat videos drinking and smoking in a car in Chicago's South Side, according to a bond court proffer obtained by the Tribune.
At a beach on Chicago's south side, Williams and Rendon allegedly took pills believed to be Xanax from a pill bottle containing Hernandez's blood pressure medication.
After dropping off the unidentified witness at their home around 11:30pm, Williams reportedly filmed several videos that were posted to Snapchat.
In one, the two girls are pictured drinking and smoking in the back seat of the vehicle. In another, Hernandez is allegedly filmed in the front seat of the car having sex with the 15-year-old.
Both Sergio Hernandez, 40, and Joslia Williams, 18, have been accused of child pornography and concealment of death, according to the Chicago Tribune. Hernandez was also charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse
After allegedly attempting to revive Rendon when she stopped breathing, Hernandez and Williams redressed her corpse and left it in an alley before leaving the scene, according to the Chicago Tribune.
In one, the two girls are pictured drinking and smoking in the back seat of the vehicle. In another, Hernandez is filmed in the front seat of the car having sex with the 15-year-old.
Prosecutors said that a subsequent video showed Rendon visibly unconscious, 'slumped over on the steering wheel facing legs were straddled across ,' while he had sex with her.
Still unconscious, Rendon was allegedly pushed to the back of the car in another clip. The Tribune reported that Rendon's mother was one of the recipients of this video.
Williams and Hernandez then fell unconscious, and when they awoke, Rendon was no longer breathing. After allegedly attempting to revive her, the pair redressed her corpse and left it in an alley before leaving the scene, according to the Tribune.
A resident found Rendon's body in their back alley around 8:30am on August 7.
Rendon's family said they confronted Hernandez and recorded him where he allegedly admitted to dumping the girl's body in the alley. They turned over the recordings to the Chicago Police Department, and Hernandez was arrested.
Prosecutors said that Rendon had been reported missing by her family before she was found dead.
Rendon's mother told Telemundo Chicago that she just met Williams once, and that she does not know how she and her daughter are acquainted. She told the outlet that she does not know Hernandez.
The two suspects were implicated in Rendon's death and sexual assault by Snapchat videos filmed by 18-year-old Joslia Williams
'There aren't words - I am trying to be strong for my daughter and my family,' Rendon's mother said to Telemundo Chicago. 'Honestly, I'm not sure how it happened so quick... just hug your children, support them, and tell them that you love them. I love my daughter. I miss her.'
'There aren't words - I am trying to be strong for my daughter and my family,' she said in Spanish. 'Honestly, I'm not sure how it happened so quick.'
'Just hug your children, support them, and tell them that you love them. I love my daughter. I miss her.'
'Melissa grew a love for piano over the two years of playing, she loved babies, snacking and was known for her delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies,' reads Rendon's obituary.
'She was loved and will truly be missed by many Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and friends.'
Williams was arrested by the Oak Park police department a short time later. They are both being held in Cook County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail, according to the County Sheriff's Department.
Oak Park Police Commander Paul Kane told the Chicago Tribune that the department was waiting on a toxicology report from the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, and that additional charges could be pending for the pair.