$50,000 reward offered to find fugitive in 2021 murder of Illinois National Guardsman Chrys Carvajal
By Charlie De Mar, Sara Tenenbaum
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CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — The FBI is now offering a $50,000 reward to find a fugitive who is wanted for the 2021 murder of Illinois Army National Guardsman Chrys Carvajal.
Milwaukee Kings members Joseph “Troubles” Matos was indicted in 2024 alongside Gary “Gotti” Roberson with federal racketeering charges for Carvjal’s murder. Roberson was taken into custody at the time, but Matos was not and remains at large to this day.
“I keep praying for justice,” said Carvajal’s mother Lourdes Lara. “I believe in God and I know justice will be served.”
“Chrys was not just a soldier, he was not just a son, he was my brother, he was a friend,” said his sister Jennifer Ramirez.
Carvajal was 19 when he was killed. He had just returned home from Army National Guard training and was leaving a party on July 3, 2021, when he was shot and killed at the corner of Lockwood Ave. and Palmer St. in Belmont-Cragin as he was walking to his car.
Federal prosecutors say Matos and Roberson killed Carvajal “for the purpose of maintaining and increasing position in the Milwaukee Kings” street gang.
Now, more than five years since his death, the FBI has raised the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Matos to $50,000. The Carvajal family and 36th Ward Ald. Gilbert Villegas held a service to honor the soldier’s life Thursday evening.
“I can’t believe he’s still out there,” Lara said. “I don’t know how he can live with that, because I know he’s watching me now.”
“Fifty-thousand dollars is not what a life is worth, but it’s about how to bring justice to the family,” said Villegas. “They have been very patient.”
Matos’ chest is tattooed with the words “Most Wanted,” and last year he was featured on the show “America’s Most Wanted” in connection to Carvajal’s death. Investigators believe someone within his circle may be helping him hide.
“The family deserves closure, the community deserves closure,” Villegas said.
“I know somebody knows something,” said Lara.
Four months after his death, Carvajal’s family and friends called on then-Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to bring charges for the soldier’s murder, insisting there was video evidence and eyewitness testimony.
Matos was taken in to custody shortly after the shooting, but later released after Foxx’s office said at the time that there was not enough evidence to file charges.
The federal indictment did not provide details about the shooting.
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