Twenty years in gang killing

An Elgin man charged in a 2005 gang killing has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his admitted role in the crime -- which took the life of a Chicago teenager -- according to court records.

Twenty-four-year-old William Lopez, of 222 Locust St., pleaded guilty to the murder.

The Elgin gang member will be credited for the 1,054 days he's already served. In exchange for the plea, other related charges were dropped, according to court records.

Lopez was one of four men charged in the Jan. 15, 2005, murder of David Lagomasini.

Lagomasini was gunned down about 8:15 that night on the 2100 block of North Austin Avenue on Chicago's Northwest Side, police said. He died of three gunshot wounds to the chest, days before his 19th birthday.

Prosecutors have said Lopez, along with other members of the gang, had gone to a Chicago house party that evening before looking for rival gang members to shoot.

When the group got to the 2100 block of North Austin, they approached Lagomasini in their car and flashed gang signs at him, officials with the Cook County state's attorney's office have said. One of the men -- later identified as Anthony Swift, of 3664 W. Grenshaw St. in Chicago -- then got out and shot him with a semi-automatic gun.

Both Swift and Lopez were charged with murder. Also charged in the crime were Nicholas Smith, now 18, of 133 Highbury Dr. in Elgin, and Martin Munoz, now 20, of 311 S. Street, also in Elgin.

All originally faced first-degree murder charges because anyone who assists in a killing is held equally accountable under Illinois law.

Swift, now 19, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder earlier this month -- a deal that landed him 32 years in prison, prosecutors said. He also was sentenced to three more years for a separate charge of possessing marijuana in a penal institution.

Smith, who school records showed was in eight-grade at Elgin's Ellis Middle School at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty in 2005 to conspiracy to commit murder, records show. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

Munoz's case still is winding its way through the court system. Court records list his next appearance as Jan. 11.