Javier Acevedo and wife, Veronica Rizzo-Acevedo identified in Illinois murder suicide
A Cook County sheriff’s office correctional officer apparently shot to death his wife, a Chicago police officer, inside their Southwest Side home Sunday morning before turning the gun on himself, authorities said. Authorites added that the deaths are being treated as an apparent murder-suicide, but offered no other details at this time.
Crime Scene Tape photo/editted pic from FBI.gov
Javier Acevedo and his wife, Veronica Rizzo-Acevedo, were found dead about 5 a.m. inside their home, according to Cook County sheriff’s office spokeswoman Cara Smith. Smith detailed that both were found inside of a bedroom.
“It is a tremendous tragedy any day, particularly for Easter Sunday,” Smith said. She stated that Javier Acevedo was a 25-year veteran and worked at the county jail.
Rizzo-Acevedo’s adult daughter heard the gunfire in the Garfield Ridge home and called 911, according a law enforcement source. A fire department responder discovered a gun lying under Javier Acevedo’s body, and the two were pronounced dead at the scene.
“Officer Veronica Rizzo-Acevedo’s death earlier today in a domestic murder-suicide is an awful tragedy for her family, her friends, her colleagues in the Chicago Police Department, and the people of this city,” Superintendent Garry McCarthy said in a statement.
Rizzo-Acevedo had worked for the department for 18 years and had worked in the Shakespeare police district, which covers the Logan Square, Bucktown and Wicker Park neighborhoods, according to law enforcement sources.
“I’ve had people calling all morning saying, ‘Oh my God. What happened?'” said Lt. Michael Mulkerin, Rizzo-Acevedo’s former supervisor. “She was well liked.”
Chicago Police Chaplain Dan Brandt, who noted he wasn’t familiar with the specifics of the case, said being in law enforcement brings a lot of unique stressors and exposure to the “worst of humanity.”
“We’re accustomed to losing our (fellow officers) to violence on the streets,” he said, “but when it’s something like this … it’s doubly hard to accept.”
