Man charged in road rage shooting death of 3-year-old Mateo Zastro

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police announced charges Thursday evening in the shooting death of a 3-year-old boy almost two years ago during a road rage incident on the Southwest Side of Chicago, as his mother was trying to get away from the danger.

Govanni Hernandez, 32, of Berwyn, was charged with the murder of Mateo Zastro, who was riding with his family on Sept. 30, 2022, in the West Lawn neighborhood, when a red sedan pulled up and a man in the back seat fired up to six rounds into the Zastro family car.

Mateo was shot in the head , and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Hernandez was charged with one count each of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and murder with strong probability of death or injury.

His mother and three siblings also were in the family SUV at the time of the shooting, but were not injured.

"They were in the back seat and witnessed their baby brother drop to the floor," said Mateo's mother, Veronica Zastro, in the days after the shooting.

Police have said the shooting was an apparent act of road rage.

There was some kind of confrontation between Mateo's mother and another driver near 71st Street and Cicero Avenue. She tried driving away, but the other vehicle caught up with her near Marquette Road and Kostner Avenue.

Zastro said two cars might have been racing at the time, and she might not have gotten out of the way in time, which might have been why she was targeted.

"You let out your f***ing clip on my baby, I will not rest," Zastro said. "It wasn't necessary to do what you did. You were on my path home. I wasn't following you … and you then you decided to plot against me and my babies - and I won't sleep until you are brought in."

Ursitti said police recovered the vehicle from which the shots were fired on Oct. 7, 2022, and DNA evidence was taken from the vehicle and submitted to a lab. A combined DNA system, or CODIS, database hit linking the DNA to Hernandez came back in August 2023, Ursitti said.

Since then, Wentworth Area detectives have conducted witness interviews and reviewed phone records, as well as obtained search warrants for digital data.

"Since the day of the shooting, the Area 1 detectives have worked to bring justice in this case—justice for a grieving mother who should be watching her son grow up, justice for three young children who are growing up without their brother, justice for Mateo—an innocent 3-year-old who didn't deserve this," Ursitti said.

Ursitti said police never forgot Mateo or his family as they sought justice in the case.

"I want to commend the Area 1 detectives for everything they did in this case, and the work they did to apprehend this violent offender who for two years cowardly went on with his life while Mateo's family lived with the trauma of his loss and his shooting," Ursitti said.

Hernandez was arrested Tuesday wile walking out of his residence in Berwyn, Ursitti said. Charges were approved Thursday.

Chicago Police described Hernandez as a "violent offender," but would not go into detail about his criminal background.

CBS News Chicago did reach out to Veronica Zastro, Mateo's mother, who said she is spending time with her children and processing the news with them.