A teenager was sentenced Friday to 15 years after admitting that he killed an East Chicago man in 2022 who helped a friend recover his stolen bike near Edison Park in Hammond.
The 17-year-old player, whom the post-distribute chooses not to appoint because he is a minor, pleaded guilty in July for voluntary manslaughter. He was 14 years old when he killed Julian Valdez, 21, on June 19, 2022, near Edison Park, according to the files.
The case was deposited in the adult of the adult court last year.
Defense lawyer, Sonya Scott -Dix, said – during the 30 -minute hearing – that her client and his cousin stole bikes near Edison Park. The teenager came out of the bike and shouted on his cousin to do the same, but the cousin refused.
Valdez ended up taking the cousin pistol and pointing him on him, she said. The judicial files show that the accused crossed the street and fired on Valdez at two different points. A record of the office of the cook’s County Legalist lists a Julian Valdez, at the age of 21, from East Chicago – with the same incident address as the shooting – died on July 23, 2022 at the University of Chicago.
“My client really thought he was defending his cousin,” said Scott-Dix.
At the time, the accused actually lived with a parent in Texas and was back. It was a “rough” district in Hammond; That’s why he had a firearm, she said. Because of his age, he has only a eighth year education.
A 15-year-old prison sentence was a “significant duration,” she said.
Deputy prosecutor Keith Anderson noted that the law did not allow a request for self -defense if someone was committing a crime, such as bicycle theft.
He “made a terrible decision” and would face a “long sentence for someone his age”.
Speaking in court, the accused said he had “excuses full of remorse” for Valdez’s family. “It is not who I am.”
Judge Salvador Vasquez said he was unusual for an accused of killing someone at 14.
“It must be a life lesson,” he said. “If this is not the case, we will see you again, and again and again.”
He encouraged him to show good behavior in prison to have his sentence eliminated and get an official education while he is there.
You have written a “good letter” of apologies, he said. “I can tell you that you have a brain in your head. Use it. “
The mother of the accused, who was emotional, refused to comment after the hearing.
According to police reports, the first officer arrived around 6:45 p.m. in Cherry Street block 600 – about two houses south of the park – for a gunshot victim.
People stood above him and shouted help.
Witnesses said Valdez played football with two friends in the park when two young black teenagers stole his friend and the bikes from another player, reports.
One wore all black clothes. The friend chased one of the boys on avenue Jackson, then east on Cherry Street. When his bike threw his channel, he caught the handlebars.
Valdez went and the other friend ran to meet him.
The teenager who stole this bike seemed to remove a “false” BB pistol with an orange tip. They told the teenager that he was in numerical inferiority from three to one. Scott-Dix told court on Friday that it was a “real pistol”.
“Do not worry, I got you,” seemed the defendant, according to the documents.
He crossed the street and flashed a pistol. He opened fire, hitting Valdez at the front. Once Valdez was on the ground, the teenager went up and shot him again, according to the reports.
The alleged bicycle thieves ran west on Cherry Street. The incident seemed to be captured on a security video.
mcolias@post-trib.com
