Man gets 78 years for shooting Elgin boy
A Cook County judge sentenced an admitted Aurora gang member to 78 years in prison Thursday for the shooting death of a 5-year-old Elgin boy and the attempted murder of his father.
Miguel Hernandez, 30, sat expressionless as Judge Bridget Hughes imposed the sentence for the Oct. 7, 2011, murder of Eric Galarza Jr., who was struck in the head with a bullet and killed when Hernandez shot six semiautomatic rounds into a car in which the victim, his parents, two younger siblings and an aunt were riding.
The gang-related shooting occurred as family members left their Elma Drive home to return a movie. Prosecutors called the shooting payback. They said Hernandez targeted the victim's father, Eric Galarza Sr., a member of the same gang as Hernandez who had cooperated with federal authorities and informed on fellow gang members in exchange for dismissal of several drug cases against him.
Citing “the severe harm this individual caused the community of Elgin,” Hughes sentenced Hernandez to 60 years for the murder and 18 years for attempted murder, making it certain he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Karen Crothers asked for a life sentence for Hernandez who, along with his fellow gang members “terrorize the streets of our towns.”
Crothers urged Hughes to “send a message to this defendant and every other would-be assassin that if they raise a firearm in the name of a street gang and kill one of our children, they will never again walk the streets of our community.”
“This is a man whose only loyalty is to (his gang),” she said. “Any day that he is free to walk the streets of our community he poses a threat ... No one is safe.”
Hernandez's “deadly handiwork” is evident in the void he left in his victim's family, Crothers said.
The boy's mother fought back tears as she described watching her son taken away by ambulance, then arriving at the hospital too late to hold him in his final moments.
“That was when he needed me most and I was not there,” said Denisse Galarza.
That “he will live forever in my heart and my family's hearts keeps me moving forward,” she said of the happy, curious little boy who was always asking, “Why?”
“I am grateful for all the beautiful memories he left us with,” Galarza said. “I thank God every day for bringing him into my life and choosing me to have one of the greatest privileges of them all, being able to call Eric Jr. my beloved son.”
Eric Jr.'s aunt, Christina Ignacio, struggled to comprehend young Eric's death.
“It's no secret the lifestyle his father (Eric Galarza Sr.) lived, but that doesn't make it OK for anyone to do what Miguel Hernandez did,” Ignacio said. “How can someone be so coldhearted to shoot at a car with three babies inside? How do you hate someone so much you are willing to hurt three innocent babies?”
Eric Galarza Sr. is in prison for domestic battery and violation of bail bond.
Hernandez continues to maintain his innocence and defense attorney Ralph Meczyk indicated Hernandez will appeal his conviction. No witnesses testified on his behalf during the hearing, which concluded with Meczyk asking Hughes to impose a sentence of 20 to 60 years.
“He is a product of the gang culture ...,” acknowledged Meczyk, “but he is not the anti-Christ.”
He was a machine operator who went to work every day, Meczyk said. “He isn't pure evil.”
When asked if he wanted to speak on his own behalf, Hernandez replied, “thank you, your honor. God bless you,” but did not speak further.