Family of Mexican father shot dead by ICE in Chicago files claim over 'unlawful' shooting

CHICAGO (AP) — The family of a man shot dead by an immigration enforcement agent in the Chicago area last year moved to sue the government on Thursday for a shooting that they allege was unlawful and could have been prevented, according to attorneys for the family.

Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Mexican national who had lived in the U.S. for 18 years, was fatally shot last fall by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who stopped his car during “Operation Midway Blitz,” the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Chicago.

The Department of Homeland Security initially said the agent was dragged by Villegas Gonzalez' vehicle and then shot Villegas Gonzalez in self-defense. A coroner’s report determined Villegas Gonzalez was shot from behind, at close range.

“This horrific shooting was unlawful and wholly preventable,” attorneys wrote in the claim.

The claim comes days after lawyers filed a lawsuit against DHS on behalf of Marimar Martinez, who survived being shot five times in her car by an immigration agent in Chicago, less than a month after Villegas Gonzalez' death. An independent analysis of the shooting found the agent fired at her from behind, contradicting his statements to the FBI that he feared Martinez would drive into him, according to her lawyers.

The Villegas Gonzalez family also filed a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which gives the government six months to settle before plaintiffs can proceed with a lawsuit, according to attorneys. The Act does not allow for lawsuits against individual agents.

Jonathan Manes, an attorney for Villegas Gonzalez’ family, declined to share the amount of compensation they are seeking, but told The Associated Press they plan to ask the judge for a “very large amount of damages at trial.”

“The way that the administration has reflexively sought to smear Silverio and call it justified doesn’t suggest to us that they’ll be willing to settle,” Manes said. “We expect that, in six months' time, we’ll be in federal court where the government has to answer for this, where the truth can come out.”

Illinois State Police announced an investigation into the shooting in May.

Villegas Gonzalez, a line cook at a local diner, had just dropped off his two young sons at school and daycare on the morning of Sept. 12, 2025, in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park, when ICE agents pulled their Jeep in front of his car, according to the claim.

As the two agents stood on either side of his car, leaning on the window frames, Villegas Gonzalez reversed about 50 feet (15.24 meters) and started to drive away into the open traffic lane. Surveillance video captured the sound of gunshots as one agent chased the car, which crashed into a parked delivery truck. The truck driver called 911, and Villegas Gonzalez was pronounced dead at a hospital about an hour later.

A medical examiner found that Villegas Gonzalez was shot downward, through the back of his neck. “The ICE officer was therefore standing alongside the driver’s side of Silverio’s vehicle when he fired the fatal shot, effectively executing Silverio at close range,” attorneys wrote in the complaint.

Immediately after the shooting, DHS said in a news release that Villegas Gonzalez was in the U.S. illegally and had dragged the agent with his car as he tried to flee. The release said the agent was seriously injured and “fearing for his life."

The agent told police who responded to the shooting that his injuries were “nothing major,” according to police body-worn camera footage previously obtained by the AP.

Attorneys wrote in the claim that the agent was not in the path of the vehicle, and chose to hold onto the windows.

Villegas Gonzalez had “no criminal record and only a few minor traffic violations,” it added.

DHS has not identified the agent. Neither of the ICE agents were wearing body-worn cameras when Villegas Gonzalez was shot. The Department did not respond to a request for comment. It was not immediately clear if DHS had received the claim.

Martinez and Villegas Gonzalez are among a growing number of people shot in their cars by federal agents across the country amid the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement sweeps. DHS has characterized the shootings as self-defense against people using their vehicles as weapons.

Mayes-Osterman is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.