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News
Second Boulder Hill drive-by suspect guilty : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisSecond Boulder Hill drive-by suspect guilty
| Jury deliberated for less than three hours; sentencing set for July 11
| by Kathy Farren
| 5/31/2012
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A Kendall County jury last week found a second person guilty of murder in connection with a December 2009 drive by shooting.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours on Thursday at the county courthouse in Yorkville before returning guilty verdicts on charges of first degree murder and attempted first degree murder against Francisco Salazar, 22, of High Street, Aurora.
A second man, Zachary Reyes, 18, of Webster Street, Aurora, was convicted of the actual shooting in January.
Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis said members of the Latin Kings street gang testified at the trial about what occurred inside Salazar's truck before and after the shooting at Long Beach and Douglas Roads in the unincorporated Boulder Hill subdivision at 12:51 a.m. on Dec. 20.
According to Kendall County Sheriff's Department reports, a sheriff's deputy on patrol on Sonora Drive in Boulder Hill saw a car traveling at a high rate of speed on Long Beach Road. The car crossed Sonora and hit a tree, turned, and then stopped in the front yard of a home.
The back seat passenger jumped out and yelled for help. The deputy then noticed that the driver's side window had been shot out.
The driver, Jason Ventura, 17, of Aurora was shot in the head and the front seat passenger, who is 18, was shot in the left arm.
The back seat passenger told the deputy they were sitting at the stoplight at Long Beach and Douglas roads when someone in a black Tahoe shot at their car.
Ventura was pronounced dead at the scene. According to Oswego Police, the other passenger was transported to Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora. A third occupant of the crash vehicle was not hurt, Oswego Police said.
Within 30 minutes of the shooting, Oswego Police stopped a vehicle matching the description of the vehicle involved in the incident at Broadway Avenue (Route 25) and Evans Street in Aurora, just north of Spring Lake Cemetery. Police later recovered the murder weapon, clothing linked to the crime and gunshot residue on Salazar's car, Weis said.
Police brought the five occupants of the vehicle in for questioning and later arrested Reyes and Salazar.
At the trial, Weis said witnesses described Salazar's actions before the shooting, his statements about the motive for the shooting, as well as his action in disposing of several pieces of evidence immediately after the shooting.
Evidence presented at the trial indicated that the victim, Ventura, was not a gang member but "happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time when the shooting occurred," Weis said.
Salazar's bond was immediately revoked and his sentencing set for July 11 at 1 p.m. He faces a sentence ranging from 32 to 120 years in prison.
Weis thanked members of the Oswego and Aurora Police Departments, Kendall County Sheriff's Department, and Illinois State Police Forensic Science Unit for their work on the case. First Assistant State's Attorney Nemura Pencyla and Assistant State's Attorney Robert Dore, along with Weis, prosecuted both this case and Reyes'.
Weis said the sentence provides justice for Ventura's family.
"While nothing will ever change the tragic events of Dec. 20, 2009, the family now will have the knowledge that those responsible for his death are held accountable for their actions," Weis said.
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