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‘The Voice:’ Singer Alejandro ‘Jano’ Fuentes Dead In Chicago Shooting

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 23:53 PST, Jun 18, 2016

A second contestant on The Voice — this time the Mexico version — died on Saturday after being shot in Chicago on Thursday night.

While fans are still mourning Christina Grimmie, 22, who was shot by Kevin Loibl outside The Plaza concert hall in Orlando last weekend, this weekend has seen yet another contestant in The Voice taken from this world, dying two days after Grimmie’s funeral.

Alejandro ‘Jano’ Fuentes featured as a top 10 finalist in Mexico’s The Voice (La Voz) in 2011.

While out celebrating his 45th birthday in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago on Thursday, Fuentes was in a car with friends and colleagues in a parking lot when a man approached the vehicle.

The man showed Fuentes a gun and told him to get out of the car. Fuentes refused and the gunman fired multiple shots, hitting the singer in the head. Fuentes was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in a critical condition.

Initially, police said he was declared dead at 2:07 p.m., but a later report from friends and family stated Fuentes had been placed on life support until relatives could arrive from Mexico.

Multi-Talented Performer With A Major Following

After participating in the Mexican version of The Voice in 2011, Alejandro ‘Jano’ Fuentes earned a major following. Following his success on the show, Fuentes opened a performing arts studio in Brighton Park, Chicago, called “Tras Bambalinas,” which translates in English to “Backstage.”

Following the opening of the studio, Fuentes regularly attended Mexican-American cultural events and was well known for staging elaborately-costumed musical shows as he taught his pupils the fundamentals of the performing arts.

At the studio, Fuentes taught singing, dancing, acting, and modeling to young people. It was when he was leaving that studio on Thursday night that the shooting occurred.

Friends find it hard to understand how anyone could attack Fuentes, with Miguel Sanchez — a friend who first worked with Fuentes in Mexico two years back — saying, “He was a very talented guy – one of a kind.”

“That’s why it’s terrible for us, because he didn’t have any enemies, he didn’t have a problem with nobody. He was a gentleman,” Sanchez said.

As reported by NBC Chicago, Sanchez went on to say his two children attended Tras Bambalinas academy and they were all feeling confused and have no explanation for what has happened.

“We are very sad because it’s something you don’t expect to happen to your close friends.”

According to Victor Gulley – co-founder of A Taste of Theater who helped Fuentes’ group stage a musical last year, “To have someone of his caliber gone — and I have no idea why.”

“He was one of the most talented people I have ever known,” Gulley added.

“He could sing, he could dance, he could write the music, perform it and most importantly he could teach it. I’ve never ever met anyone as talented as he was in those arenas.”

According to a report by the Mirror Online, besides singing Fuentes was a talented songwriter who enjoyed writing musicals. According to Gulley, he could do it all.

“He could do it all. He even did makeup, which was amazing. He did the hair and makeup for all of the people in the production.”

No suspect has yet been identified according to Chicago police.

Watch a performance by Fuentes on La Voz Mexico in the video included below.

[Photo via La Voz Mexico/Facebook]

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