Convicted Aurora murderer on trial for 2nd shooting
A 31-year-old Aurora gang member went on trial in Kane County Monday on charges he opened fire on two men in a case of mistaken identity.
Enrique L. Torres is accused of firing at least seven shots into a car in April 2007, hitting one man in the leg.
Even if he is found not guilty of attempted murder, Torres will not go free.
He is five years into serving a 60-year sentence after being convicted of shooting and killing Edgar Hill, 35, of Hillside, on April 14, 2007, in an Aurora hotel parking lot in DuPage County.
The hotel shooting occurred shortly after the shooting for which he's now on trial.
Kane County Assistant State's Attorney William Engerman said Torres, his girlfriend and another gang member were driving when they saw a car with two black men at the intersection of Summit and Hill avenues on Aurora's east side.
Believing the men were in a rival gang, they pulled up behind the car and Torres got out of the passenger seat, opening fire, Engerman said.
"'Hey, look at those flakes,'" Engerman quoted Torres as saying to his companions before the shooting. "What he was doing was looking to shoot a rival gang member. A 'flake' is a term reserved for rival gang members."
The driver sped off, but his passenger, Ashley Rowzee, 41, of Aurora, was hit in the left leg and later had the bullet removed at a hospital a day and a half later, according to testimony.
Rowzee, who is in prison for felony theft charges, could not identify the shooter back then or Monday on the witness stand. He and the driver had been drinking, smoking pot and out looking to buy cocaine.
"It was late. It was dark. It happened pretty quick," Rowzee testified.
The case went unsolved until prosecutors cut a deal with the third passenger in the car that night, fellow gang member Ezequiel Rivera, 29.
In exchange for his testimony, prosecutors agreed not to charge Rivera in connection to a possible six other attempted murders and homicides, including that of Hill.
Rivera received a 20-year sentence that can be cut in half for good behavior, and he is due for prison release in April 2017.
Defense attorney John Paul Carroll attacked Rivera's credibility, noting that prosecutors might still charge him with other murders if he deviates from his testimony.
"Mr. Rivera is nobody's fool," Carroll said.
Carroll also argued that Rowzee's testimony Monday was inconsistent with what he initially told police. Carroll also noted that Rowzee had been to prison six times and used as many as eight aliases with authorities.
The trial before Judge Karen Simpson is expected to run late into the week.