Family prepares for end of life for woman severely injured in 2022 Portage Park triple murder

CHICAGO (WGN) — The family of a woman severely injured in a shooting more than two and a half years ago is preparing for the end of her life.

In 2022, Mariah Vera was celebrating her 25th birthday at the Vera Lounge—her family’s bar in the Northwest Side neighborhood of Portage Park.

At about 2:30 in the morning, a man opened fire following a fight at the bar. Vera’s father, Ricky, and two others—26-year-old Mario Pozuelos and 24-year-old Mercedes Tavares—were killed by the gunman.

Mariah Vera was trying to save her father’s life when the gunman walked up and shot her point-blank in the head, shattering part of her skull.

Her family said they remained hopeful for her to recover, but doctors told them her condition has deteriorated in the other direction. A GoFundMe page has been established to help her family cover medical expenses.

Samuel Parsons-Salas, a 32-year-old man, faces three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, one count of aggravated battery and one count of kidnapping in connection with the gruesome shooting.

Court records show Parsons-Salas was released from prison last September, four years after he reached a plea deal with prosecutors in a 2009 double murder in the Albany Park neighborhood.