Police arrested a mother and her teenage son for allegedly shooting up a car and killing an innocent woman as they drove home from work in a case of confusion in Waukegan after they and a third man armed with a gun opened fire.

Around 1:10 a.m. on Sept. 17, the Waukegan Police Department and Waukegan Fire Department responded to the area of ​​Elmwood Boulevard and Melrose Boulevard in Waukegan for a report of a shooting.

Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Nicholas Shepherd said officers arrived and found a woman shot inside a black Toyota Corolla.

Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek identified the victim as Yessenia Novoa-Poveda, 48, of Waukegan.

Novoa-Poveda was transported by ambulance to East Vista Medical Center in Waukegan.

After arriving at the hospital, he was pronounced dead in the emergency room, Banek said.

Shepherd said two other people were in the vehicle where Novoa-Poveda was at the time of the attack and were not injured.

The three of them drove home from work together, Shepherd said.

An autopsy was performed on Novoa-Poveda, and Banek said the results showed Novoa-Poveda died from a gunshot wound to the back.

Court records identify Johnathan D. White, 20, of Zion; Torsheill Hibbler, 37, of Round Lake Beach; and Tyrone Hoy, 17, of Round Lake Beach, were charged Sept. 25 with three counts of first-degree murder.

Shepherd said security cameras showed a passenger, later identified as White, exit a black Ford Crown Victoria with a white door and open fire at a Toyota Corolla stopped at the intersection.

Two other occupants of the Ford, identified as Hibbler and Hoy, also began shooting at the Toyota from inside the Ford, Shepherd said.

It was registered to Ford Hibbler. Police knew her and Hoy from a separate investigation in which the woman’s son, Hoy, was shot at a party in August.

Investigators believe the suspects misidentified the car Novoa-Poveda was in, Shepherd said.

Shepherd said Hoy believed it was the same car that shot at him in August, and that Hoy, White and Hibbler were seeking retaliation for that attack when they killed Novoa-Poveda.

Shepherd described Novoa-Poveda as an “innocent woman” who was killed in the middle of a street on her way home from work.

Immediately after the murder, investigators found the 2009 Ford Crown Victoria at Hibbler’s home in the 1000 block of Red Oak Circle in Round Lake Beach, Waukegan Deputy Police Chief Scott Chastain said.

Detectives established surveillance and executed search warrants for the vehicle, residence, and garage. There were bullet holes inside the Ford.

Detectives also found a semi-automatic handgun and a large quantity of drugs; 714 grams of the substance that field tested positive for cocaine.

Shepherd said White confessed to his involvement in the murder after his arrest in Chicago and identified himself in security photos.

Novoa-Poveda’s obituary stated that she enjoyed being at home with her family and was always attentive to their care.

His obituary stated that he immigrated to Waukegan just months before his death, dreaming of a better future for his son.

At White’s detention hearing last week, Shepherd argued that White committed a premeditated murder by hanging around with friends, the friend’s mother and other gunmen who “apparently wanted to kill someone” out of revenge.

“There is no greater threat to society than the taking of an innocent person’s life. And here the defendant did it without remorse,” Shepherd said.

The saddest part of the case, the prosecutor said, was that Novoa-Poveda was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Following a detention hearing, Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted a motion to keep White detained pending trial.

“This attack was a horrific act of violence that took the life of an innocent person with no known connection to the perpetrators. Chastain said Wednesday that criminals opened fire on a vehicle with multiple people inside.

“It’s a miracle that two other passengers were not hit by the many bullets fired,” he added.

Arrest warrants were issued after the charges were filed on September 25, and White was the first to be arrested. Chastain said he was taken into custody on Oct. 9 in the 10000 block of Wallace in Chicago.

The Waukegan Police Department announced Wednesday that they captured Hibbler and Hoy on Monday at an apartment in the 6000 block of Derby Drive in Gurnee.

Detectives followed clues that led them to the apartment where they believed the mother and son were hiding, Chastain said.

Contact was made with an apartment resident who helped coordinate the surrender of Hibbler and Hoy.

Both were taken into custody without incident. A search warrant was obtained at the apartment, which led to the seizure of additional evidence in the case, Chastain said.

In addition to the murder charges, Hibbler was also charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance between 400-900 grams and unlawful possession of a controlled substance between 400-900 grams.

Hoy and Hibbler, who are charged as adults, are scheduled to appear at detention hearings Thursday afternoon.