Martin Ybarra, an alleged longtime Latin Kings gang member, held without bail for shootings.

Martin Ybarra, an alleged longtime Latin Kings gang member, held without bail for the shootings.Ybarra stood trial just six months ago for a 2005 fatal shooting near the same corner. He was acquitted.Cook County prosecutors on Friday said Ybarra unleashed the assault-rifle’s firepower in two spots — both times in the apparent direction of a 24-year-old rival Black P-Stone.Ybarra, who slightly smirked when he appeared in court Friday, at first fired the gun while out of a car, chasing victims through gangways and alleys before getting into a car, sources said.Eleven bullets struck his three teenaged victims near 87th and Exchange.The youngest, 13-year-old Johnny Edwards, was shot once and apparently died next to his brother.“Help me,” the brother screamed, according to witnesses. “They shot my brother.”Also killed was Bowen High students Kendrick Pitts, 17, and Raheem Washington, 15.

Witnesses have identified Ybarra — known in the neighborhood as “Slim” — in lineups, Cook County assistant state’s attorney Thomas Darman said. Ybarra also was allegedly seen firing an assault rifle during the shootings, Darman said.

The shooting stemmed from longtime gang aggravations between the Latin Kings and Black P-Stones in the neighborhood, an area where gang control over the streets is constantly in flux.The gang problems on Feb. 20 started near Bowen High School, where Pitts and Washington attend, prosecutors said. Ybarra also once attended the school.Ybarra was called to the area to “assist his fellow Latin Kings,” Darman said.Ybarra was allegedly seen leaving his home with an assault weapon in a dark car, Darman said.A short time later, a 24-year-old member of the Black P-Stones who was with Pitts got into an altercation with some Latin Kings inside a dark-colored car. He then saw Ybarra standing on the street firing an assault weapon in his direction, Darman said. Washington was struck by five bullets there.Ybarra fled west from Exchange through a gangway and emerged from an alley between Exchange and Escanaba, this time inside the car, prosecutors said. It was there witnesses saw him lean half his body out of a car window, firing “a large assault-type weapon in the direction of some young males,” Darman said.
The P-Stone, who had also run west on 87th, had taken cover behind a Dumpster because of shots being fired behind him, Darman said. There, he saw Johnny Edwards on the ground as well Pitts, who’d been shot five times.Ybarra initially fled to Indiana after the shootings but was arrested Feb. 24 by Chicago Police on the Southeast Side after a “concerned citizen‚” contacted them, according to court documents.Ybarra’s defense attorney objected to him being held without bail, saying the witnesses against him were rival gang members.“They have every motive in the world to say it’s him and not someone else,” Cook County public defender Susan Smith said. Smith also said Ybarra is one of eight children and works part-time as a laborer.Ybarra, of the 8300 block of South Buffalo, was acquitted last August on murder charges for the 2005 shooting death of Danny Urbieta, 19, near the same corner. At the time, Ybarra was 16.