SubX.News® Crime Report
CHICAGO — Anthony Nunnally, 21, is charged with murdering two teenage girlfriends in separate East Side killings more than a year apart.
Nunnally is charged with the murders of Sierra Evans, 19, and Gabriela “Gabby” Arellano, 17.
Cook County prosecutors say a secretly recorded jailhouse conversation captured Nunnally confessing to one of the murders while speaking with a cooperating inmate.
Another girlfriend survived to tell detectives that Nunnally threatened to:
“Kill her like he killed his last girlfriend”
While showing her a television report about one victim’s memorial, prosecutors allege.
During Wednesday’s detention hearing, prosecutors also identified Nunnally as a suspect in a third homicide, although no charges have been filed in that investigation.
When the murder charges were filed, Nunnally was already being held in the Cook County Jail on an unrelated armed carjacking case involving a 19-year-old man prosecutors said he had known since grade school.
Chicago police arrested Nunnally on Aug. 3, 2026, after identifying him as the alleged gunman in both killings.
He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and appeared before Cook County Judge Deidre Dyer on Wednesday, who ordered him held pending trial.
According to prosecutors, Nunnally is an alleged member of the Latin Kings street gang.
They argued his alleged gang affiliation was central to the motive presented in court, his recorded jailhouse statements and the evidence supporting detention.
Sierra Evans
According to prosecutors, Sierra Evans, 19, and Nunnally had been dating for about one month before her death on Sept. 28, 2024.
The night before Evans was found dead, prosecutors said Nunnally, Evans and two other people had been drinking in a basement when he accused one of the people there of stealing his marijuana.
When Evans did not defend him during the argument, prosecutors allege Nunnally choked and pinned her against a wall before punching a hole in the basement wall.
Friends intervened and ordered Nunnally to leave the home.
Prosecutors said his mother picked him up.
Later, prosecutors allege Nunnally called the people inside the house and said he was in an Uber on his way back.
He also told them to leave the back door open.
Minutes later, witnesses heard several gunshots.
According to prosecutors, Nunnally came running into the basement holding a handgun, said he had just killed someone and flashed a gang sign.
Prosecutors noted he did not specifically say he had killed Evans.
Evans’ body was found the following morning in an alley in the 9500 block of South Avenue N with multiple gunshot wounds.
Investigators recovered 18 shell casings near her body.
Evans’ killing later became a flashpoint in Chicago’s ShotSpotter debate after SoundThinking confirmed the gunfire detection system detected gunfire in the area at approximately 12:06 a.m. on Sept. 28, 2024.
Chicago’s contract with ShotSpotter had ended five days earlier, and alerts were no longer being sent to police.
Authorities have never stated whether an earlier police response would have changed the outcome.
Gabriela “Gabby” Arellano
Prosecutors said Nunnally had been dating Gabriela “Gabby” Arellano, 17, for several weeks before her death.
According to prosecutors, Arellano’s mother dropped her off near 106th Street and Avenue O on Oct. 17, 2025.
She was expected to return home that day but stopped answering phone calls, using social media and reporting to work.
Her mother filed a missing persons report on Oct. 21.
Surveillance video allegedly captured Nunnally, Arellano and another person eating together at a restaurant on Oct. 25 before driving to a witness’s home.
Another surveillance camera allegedly captured Nunnally, Arellano and the unidentified person in the area near the alley where Arellano was later found.
Prosecutors said Nunnally and another man were then seen looking up and down the street before returning to the vacant lot.
About one minute later, a nearby Ring doorbell camera recorded the sound of a single gunshot. Prosecutors said the video then captured Nunnally and another unidentified person running from the area.
Arellano was found later that morning with a single gunshot wound to the head in an alley near the 11000 block of South Mackinaw Avenue.
Police arrested Nunnally days later on an unrelated aggravated vehicular hijacking charge stemming from an Oct. 2, 2025, armed carjacking in the Hegewisch neighborhood.
He remained in the Cook County Jail on that case when prosecutors filed the murder charges.
Alleged Jailhouse Confession
According to prosecutors, Nunnally was already being held in the Cook County Jail on the pending armed carjacking case when he allegedly confessed to Arellano’s murder.
Prosecutors said one of Nunnally’s cellmates was a former member of the Latin Kings street gang who agreed to cooperate with investigators and secretly wore a recording device.
Believing he was speaking privately to another gang member, prosecutors allege Nunnally admitted killing Arellano because he believed she was going to “backdoor” him by revealing his location to a rival gang.
When the cooperating witness asked whether he felt any remorse, prosecutors said Nunnally replied:
“When some b—- backdoor you, you gotta do what you gotta do.”
Prosecutors also alleged Nunnally mimicked the shooting by making “pop, pop” sounds during the recorded conversation.
Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Pekara argued the alleged confession provided direct evidence of Nunnally’s motive and involvement in Arellano’s killing.
Another Girlfriend’s Account
Prosecutors also described allegations involving another girlfriend who dated Nunnally after Sierra Evans’ death.
According to prosecutors, Nunnally showed the woman a television news report about Evans’ memorial during an argument and threatened to:
“Kill her like he killed his last girlfriend.”
The woman survived the relationship and later reported the alleged threats to Chicago detectives.
Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Pekara argued the allegation demonstrated an escalating pattern of violence toward women Nunnally dated and supported their request that he remain detained pending trial.
Defense Challenges State’s Case
Assistant Public Defender Scott Kozicki argued prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence proving Nunnally was the gunman in either killing.
Regarding Evans’ death, Kozicki said there was no evidence the handgun Nunnally allegedly carried into the basement matched the 18 shell casings recovered near Evans’ body.
Kozicki also questioned whether the Ring doorbell camera could reliably capture the gunshot prosecutors said was recorded in Arellano’s killing.
Addressing the alleged jailhouse confession, Kozicki described the recorded statements as “really shaky, problematic entrapment” and argued the cooperating inmate had a strong motive to provide information against Nunnally.
“These are a lot of scary stories, but being near gunshots does not mean you participated in a shooting,” Kozicki told the court.
State’s Attorney Pekara disputed those arguments, telling the judge Nunnally “was the person last seen with each of these young women before they died.”
“He was seen with a gun seconds after the first murder. In the second murder, the Ring camera got the sound of a gunshot and saw [Nunnally] running away,” Pekara argued.
Pekara described Nunnally as
“a stone-cold killer,” adding,
“This is not a scary story, it’s a fact.”
Judge Orders Nunnally Held
After hearing arguments from both sides, Cook County Circuit Judge Deidre Dyer ordered Nunnally detained pending trial.
The judge cited the nature of the allegations, the evidence presented by prosecutors and Nunnally’s alleged history of unlawfully possessing firearms.
According to prosecutors, Nunnally had access to firearms on multiple occasions despite being prohibited from possessing them, including three times as an adult and twice as a juvenile.
Nunnally remains charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Sierra Evans and Gabriela “Gabby” Arellano.
He also remains jailed on the unrelated aggravated vehicular hijacking case involving a 19-year-old man prosecutors said he had known since grade school.
Nunnally is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 26, 2026.
Sources: SubX.News® past reports; Chicago Police Department charging release; Chicago Police Department arrest records; Cook County Department of Corrections; Cook County Medical Examiner; Chicago Tribune; CBS News Chicago; NBC Chicago; ABC7 Chicago; Chicago Sun-Times; WGN News; CWBChicago; National Gun Violence Memorial; Legal Help Firm
Alderman says ShotSpotter could have saved woman found shot to death in East Side alley
By ABC7 Chicago Digital Team WLS
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Woman found dead in alley as dispatcher notes: ‘And we don’t have a ShotSpotter’
