The second of two Naperville brothers convicted of murdering a 15-year-old Aurora youth they falsely believed was a rival street gang member has been sent to prison, according a news release issued by the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Justin A. Cavazos, 21, of the 3300 block of Lapp Lane, Naperville, was sentenced Wednesday by Circuit Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon to 60 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the January 2007 murder of Oscar Rodriguez of Aurora.
On Dec. 6, Justin Cavazos was convicted by a Kane County jury of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, a Class X felony, one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class 1 felony, and one count of unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle, a Class 2 felony.
On Dec. 5, Justin Cavazos’ brother, Joshua A. Cavazos was convicted by a separate Kane County jury of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, a Class X felony, one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class 1 felony, and one count of unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle, a Class 2 felony. In addition, Joshua Cavazos was found to have personally discharged the handgun that caused Oscar Rodriguez’s death.
Joshua Cavazos was sentenced by Judge Sheldon to 75 years in prison.
The men were tried in the same courtroom, at the same time, by separate juries with separate defense lawyers.
The afternoon of Jan. 20, 2007, the Cavazos brothers were in a stolen Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by co-defendant Jaime E. Barragan, 22, according to the release. A fourth co-defendant, David S. Hernandez, 22, was riding in the back seat of the SUV. The men, all gang members, were driving through rival gang territory looking to shoot any member of a rival gang.
About 2 p.m., as they were near High and Grove streets, they spotted 15-year-old Oscar Rodriguez of Aurora walking with his girlfriend, according to the release. Someone in the SUV flashed a gang sign at Oscar Rodriguez to determine his gang affiliation, if any. Justin Cavazos handed a 40-caliber handgun to Hernandez, who was seated next to him in the back seat of the SUV. Hernandez was to shoot Oscar Rodriguez, but decided he couldn’t do it. The gun was handed to Joshua Cavazos, who fired four shots through the front passenger window. Three shots struck Rodriguez, who died after being transported to a Chicago hospital. Although Rodriguez’s girlfriend was struck with a bullet, she survived.DISCLAIMER: Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder
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