Second man charged in connection to death of Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera

A second man was charged Saturday in connection with the death of Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera, who was shot and killed this month by her partner during a foot chase that ended in a Chatham apartment filled with guns and drugs.

Jaylin Arnold, 27, from Avalon Park, faces felony charges of armed violence, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a gun as a repeat felon in connection with Rivera’s June 5 death, according to Cook County court records.

Arnold, a convicted felon, was arrested Thursday in Grand Crossing on a warrant for a parole violation, an arrest report shows. He was found with 11 bags of suspected crack cocaine.

Rivera was shot by her partner about 9:50 p.m. June 5 while chasing an armed person, now identified as Arnold, into an apartment building in the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue, officials have said. Once inside, they encountered another suspect, identified as Adrian Rucker, who was armed with an AR-style rifle.

Rucker pointed the gun at the officers, and Arnold jumped over a couch and ran out of the one-room apartment, officials have said. Rivera chased Arnold down a hallway and was then unintentionally shot in the back by her partner.

When officers searched the apartment, they found a second AR-style rifle, a Glock handgun and ammunition, prosecutors said. They also found bags and jars of heroin, cocaine and marijuana, as well as fake IDs from multiple states that had Rucker’s photo.

Rucker, 25, from Freeport, was arrested shortly after the shooting and charged with felony counts of armed violence and illegal possession of a gun, drugs and a fake ID. He was ordered held at Cook County Jail this month.

Arnold and Rucker are both felons with long criminal records, court records show. Arnold was most recently convicted of being a felon in possession of a gun in March 2023 and was sentenced to seven years in prison. He has been sentenced to prison in at least two other gun cases.

He is expected to appear at a detention hearing Saturday afternoon.

A visitation for Rivera will be held Tuesday at Montclair-Lucania Funeral Home, 6901 W. Belmont Ave. Her funeral was set for noon Wednesday at Living Word Christian Center, 7600 Roosevelt Road in Forest Park,