10 years for man who shot up teenager with heroin

Ten years should be plenty of time for Christopher Parker to reflect on killing one of his own friends - all for heroin.

That's how much time the Aurora man will spend behind bars after pleading guilty to drug-induced homicide in the March 21, 2009 death of 18-year-old Amber Thompson of Joliet at an Aurora party.

Parker was sentenced last week by Kane County Circuit Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon, who cited Parker's criminal background and his many failed attempts at drug rehabilitation in locking him up for the better part of a decade. By law, he must serve at least 85 percent, or 8 years and 6 months, of the sentence.

Prosecutors say Parker injected the fatal dose of heroin into Thompson's right arm about 45 minutes after she snorted another amount.

Immediately after the injection, Thompson went unconscious and fell forward - but no one had the guts to call 911 for "fear of getting in trouble," prosecutors said. She awoke briefly about 30 minutes later, but then dozed out again.

It wasn't until the next day, when Thompson's friends saw she was unconscious and not breathing, that anyone tried to get her medical attention. At that point, prosecutors said, Parker and two co-defendants started driving toward Rush Copley Medical Center, then pulled over to call 911.

It was too late.

By 11 a.m., Thompson had been pronounced dead.

Co-defendants Ryan Faber, 26, of Aurora, and Kyle Hayes, 22, of Sandwich, each remain charged with one count of drug-induced homicide, and their cases are pending.

Surrendered: A Wayne man who pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and other charges stemming from a crash that killed his best friend turned himself over to the county jail Friday, as scheduled.

Onofrio J. Lorusso, 19, now has about two weeks until he finds out whether he, too, will be going to prison.

Lorusso faces up to 14 years at sentencing May 13, also in front of Judge Sheldon. But his attorneys plan to argue that "extenuating circumstances" should result in him receiving probation instead of prison.

In pleading guilty, Lorusso admitted to driving under the influence in a June 14, 2009 crash in St. Charles that killed his passenger and friend Cameron Godee, 18, of West Chicago, just days after the two gradated from St. Charles East High School. Prosecutors have said Lorusso had a blood-alcohol content nearly three times the legal threshold for drivers of legal drinking age, and traces of marijuana in his system.

The crash happened as he drove an estimated 77 mph in a 25 mph zone on a residential street, striking a mailbox, two trees and a parked car on a slight curve in the road.