Elgin teen gets 15 years for 2009 shooting

None of the gang members Jose Perez so wanted to impress attended Wednesday's hearing during which the 16-year-old admitted to a Halloween 2009 shooting he hoped would earn him admission into their ranks.

In exchange for his guilty plea to attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, the Elgin teen received a 15-year prison sentence, with credit for the 280 days he has spent in custody since his arrest. He must complete 85 percent of the sentence before he is eligible for parole.

Perez, of the 300 block of Coleman Drive, was charged as an adult in the shooting which occurred Oct. 31 in the 3000 block of Streamwood's Club Tree Drive. At about 8 that night, he and another person yelled gang slogans as they approached a teenager who had no gang affiliation, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mike Gerber.

Perez fired a .32 revolver at the victim, striking him in the buttocks and the face and costing him his right eye, Gerber said.

The victim's description of his assailant led police to Perez, who they arrested shortly after the shooting. In a statement to police, Perez admitted shooting the victim, saying he did so "to prove himself a worthy member of the gang to which he wished to belong," Gerber said.

Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Fecarotta referenced the teen's motive before imposing the sentence.

"You did the shooting as a type of gang initiation, correct?" Fecarotta said.

"Yes," Perez replied.

"Where are they now?" asked Fecarotta as he scanned the Rolling Meadows courtroom, empty except for Streamwood police officers and two Perez family members.