Federal officials say Giovanna Mercedes Moreno Occhipinti drove two alleged gunmen to a Southwest Side party where three men were killed.
CHICAGO, IL — A former Illinois teacher is in federal immigration custody after authorities accused her of helping two alleged gunmen tied to Tren de Aragua reach and flee a December 2024 mass shooting at a Southwest Side house party.
Giovanna Mercedes Moreno Occhipinti, 32, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on May 13 and remains detained while federal authorities pursue removal proceedings. The case returned to public attention Monday, when federal officials described her as an accused driver in a shooting that killed three men and wounded five other people at a home in the 3500 block of West 59th Street.
The shooting happened Dec. 2, 2024, after police were called about 2:10 p.m. to the Chicago Lawn area, between St. Louis and Central Park avenues. Chicago police said officers found eight adults shot inside the home. Four men and four women, all between 20 and 35, had been hit by gunfire. Three men died. Police Chief of Patrol Jon Hein said at the time that the shooting appeared to happen during a social gathering and that investigators did not have reports of children being inside the home.
Federal officials said Moreno Occhipinti drove Ricardo Granadillo Padilla and Edward Martinez Cermeno to the party. Authorities have identified Padilla and Martinez Cermeno as the alleged shooters. Homeland Security Investigations Chicago Special Agent in Charge Matthew Scarpino said Moreno Occhipinti’s alleged actions were “calculated and deliberate,” adding that agents pursued the case to make sure people accused of helping in the mass homicide were held accountable. Moreno Occhipinti has not been publicly charged in a new Cook County criminal case tied to the shooting, and the exact record of any pending federal or immigration proceeding was not immediately clear from public reports.
The dead included Jon Carlos Blancarcer, 28, and Hector M. Sajo, 26, both of whom were identified by the Cook County medical examiner after the attack. A third man also was killed, while five others survived. Neighbors told reporters at the time that people at the home appeared to be dressed for a party. Some said they heard a burst of loud gunfire before a large police and fire response filled the block. Mayor Brandon Johnson later said the city was grieving for the victims, survivors and their families, and called the violence senseless.
The shooting scene sat in a residential stretch of the Southwest Side near schools, homes and busy neighborhood streets. Police blocked off roads around West 59th Street as detectives entered the house and emergency crews moved victims for treatment. Investigators later described the event as a gathering that continued after people left another location. The Sun-Times reported in 2025 that police said witnesses told investigators the group had left a club in the 2500 block of South Kedzie Avenue and went to the West 59th Street home, where a Venezuelan DJ was performing.
Federal authorities later said Padilla and Martinez Cermeno were Venezuelan nationals with alleged ties to Tren de Aragua, a criminal gang that began in Venezuela and has drawn growing attention from U.S. law enforcement. ICE said Padilla was arrested Feb. 8, 2025, in Raleigh, North Carolina, after agents seized a pistol, ammunition and other items. Authorities said Martinez Cermeno was arrested Jan. 26, 2025, in Schaumburg. He was initially released after a federal detention hearing, then taken back into ICE custody on administrative immigration grounds, according to federal officials.
Authorities said Moreno Occhipinti is from Venezuela and also has Italian citizenship. Federal officials said she entered the United States in October 2021 through the Visa Waiver Program and was required to leave by Jan. 2, 2022. They said she stayed after that deadline. Officials also said she had worked as a teacher in Illinois, but they did not identify the school. Reports said federal officials believed the job was in or near Elgin. The school name and dates of employment have not been confirmed publicly.
Chicago police arrested Moreno Occhipinti on Dec. 5, 2024, on weapons allegations after the shooting, federal officials said. They said multiple weapons were found in her vehicle after the attack and that investigators believe she helped the alleged gunmen avoid law enforcement. The Cook County state’s attorney’s office later did not move forward with criminal prosecution of the subjects, according to federal officials. ICE officials criticized Chicago’s limits on cooperation with immigration enforcement, saying the city did not notify federal agents before Moreno Occhipinti was released.
The case now sits mainly in the federal immigration system. Padilla and Martinez Cermeno were later deported, according to federal officials, while Moreno Occhipinti is being held at the Grayson County Detention Center in Leitchfield, Kentucky. Federal officials have described her as awaiting removal from the United States. It was not immediately clear whether she has an attorney in the immigration case or whether she will face separate criminal charges tied to the shooting.
Several parts of the case remain unresolved in public records. Authorities have not released a full account of the motive, the path of the alleged shooters before and after the attack, or the evidence used to link Moreno Occhipinti to the drive to the home. Chicago police have not announced new local charges in the case. Federal officials have described the shooting as tied to Tren de Aragua, but public court records cited in local reports did not show a Cook County or federal criminal case against Padilla or Martinez Cermeno for the shooting at the time of their 2025 arrests.
For neighbors around West 59th Street, the shooting left a heavy police presence and a long trail of unanswered questions. One woman who lived nearby told reporters the people taken from the house looked young and dressed as if they had been at a party. Another neighbor said the gunfire was loud and sudden. The block was still marked by police tape and patrol vehicles hours later, as officers worked inside the home and families waited for information.
Moreno Occhipinti remained in ICE custody as of Monday’s public update. The next milestone is expected to come through immigration proceedings or any later decision by local or federal prosecutors to file charges connected to the Dec. 2, 2024, shooting.
Author note: Last updated June 23, 2026.