West Chicago dad gets 45 years for infant’s murder

A DuPage County judge sentenced a West Chicago man Thursday to 45 years in prison for a “vicious, very personal” fatal beating of his 3-month-old son after the infant wouldn’t stop crying.

Gustavo Torres-Medel, 27, faced up to 100 years after being convicted of first-degree murder in June by Judge Kathryn Creswell, who sentenced him.

Creswell described the April 27, 2009, beating that left 3-month-old Gustavo Jr. with seven broken ribs, extensive bruises, and bleeding on the brain as a “vicious, very personal attack.”

“The child was savagely beaten at the hands of his own father,” she said, adding that photos of the infant’s injuries were “shocking.”

In a statement before he was sentenced, Torres-Medel admitted he squeezed the infant and bit his buttocks and cheeks while “drugged” on alcohol and crack cocaine. But he claimed he never struck the child.

“My biggest mistake was being drugged that day,” Torres-Medel said through a Spanish interpreter. “I ask everyone for forgiveness, but it was never my intent to take the baby’s life away.”

Assistant State’s Attorneys Alex McGimpsey and Romas Mockaitis said Torres-Medel was supposed to look after his son the morning of the attack, but instead beat Gustavo Jr. in a fit of rage after the child refused to stop crying.

The resulting injuries suggested the father specifically “targeted” his child’s head, face and body, they argued.

“Who would think that striking an infant would stop that infant from crying?” Mockaitis said. “This defendant did — and this defendant silenced that child forever.”

Prosecutors said Gustavo Jr.’s mother returned home after the beating to find her son’s lifeless body. But they said Torres-Medel refused to explain what happened, telling Salgado only that he was “responsible” for any charges.

“From one day to the next, everything changed,” Salgado testified Thursday. “I was left alone without the child.”

By law, Torres-Medel must serve a full 45 years, with credit for time in the county jail since April 2009.

Authorities said he immigrated to the United States on a visa when he was 15, but remained here illegally after the visa expired. As a result, he will be deported upon his release from prison.