A teen has been charged with murder in the mid-August killing of a 70-year-old woman who was on her way to work, according to Chicago police.

       The 17-year-old, charged with first-degree murder, is accused of killing Yvonne Ruzich in an attempted carjacking around 4:30 a.m. Aug. 16 as Ruzich arrived at her job in Hegewisch, Chicago Police Department Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said at a news conference Friday.

       Deenihan declined to name the teen, who is from Chicago, because he is a juvenile. Police are still looking for a second person accused of being involved in the killing, but Deenihan declined to provide details because the person was not in custody and was also a juvenile.

       Yvonne Ruzich, 70, was shot as she sat in her vehicle in the Hegewisch neighborhood in the 13300 block of South Baltimore Avenue about 4:30 a.m. Aug. 16. (Family photo)

       Ruzich typically arrived at work early, in the 13300 block of South Baltimore Avenue, and her stepson drove in a separate car to wait with her until her boss arrived, Deenihan said. Early on Aug. 16, she was waiting in her car and her stepson was waiting in his, when he saw several cars drive past, make a U-turn and park behind them.

       Two people got out of the cars and began walking toward Ruzich and her stepson, allegedly armed with handguns, Deenihan said. Ruzich and her stepson tried to drive away, when one of the people shot into her car, he said.

       Ruzich’s car crashed, and the two people got back into their car, drove up and shot into Ruzich’s car, Deenihan said.

       “A 70-year-old victim, still working, going to work at 4:30 in the morning,” Deenihan said. “And life tragically ended just for trying to get a piece of property.”

       The group is accused of carjacking or attempting to carjack several other vehicles over the course of that night, Deenihan said. They were in a stolen vehicle when they pulled up behind Ruzich and her stepson, he said.

       Detectives recovered four vehicles during their investigation of the case, which also took them into Indiana, Deenihan said.

       The teen was arrested Thursday in Chicago. He is expected to be transferred to adult court by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, Deenihan said.

       “Right now we are having a carjacking crisis, and to the people out there I would say just do your best to be aware of your surroundings,” Deenihan said. “The normal things we talk about. And obviously, they were, in this case, and this still happened.”

       sfreishtat@chicagotribune.com

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