Elgin man gets 50 years in murder of Streamwood teen
An Elgin man received a 50-year prison sentence Wednesday for shooting and killing Streamwood teen Anthony Brown.
Daniel Vargas, 21, was convicted of first-degree murder last month for firing three bullets from a pistol into Brown on Nov. 5, 2006.
Brown, a straight-A student in Streamwood High School's Class of 2007, was shot when Vargas and friend David Luna confronted Brown's friend over a botched drug deal, witnesses have said. Murder charges are pending against Luna, who is to appear in court Jan. 28.
Cook County Judge Thomas Fecarotta Jr. said Vargas has shown no remorse and called him an "extreme danger to the community."
"(Vargas) is not contrite and shows no emotion for killing and taking someone's life," Fecarotta said Wednesday, adding Vargas will serve every day of his sentence.
He said Vargas was instead quick to blame his public defender Jonathon Minkus, whose motion for a new trial was denied at the start of Wednesday's hearing.
Vargas showed no emotion when Fecarotta rendered his sentence, but later looked to his family and wiped tears from his eyes.
Minkus asked for the court's mercy, saying Vargas had turned his life around from a history of crime that included convictions for street gang conduct, criminal trespassing, battery and burglary.
Minkus said Vargas was working full time, attending school and caring for his child at the time of Brown's murder.
Assistant State's Attorney Mike Gerber read victim impact statements from Brown's father and grandmother during the sentencing.
"Vargas shot my boy three times and left him to die," Gerber read from a statement by father Mark Brown. "He has never shown any sign of remorse and deserves the same fate as my son."
Anthony Brown's friends and family, many dressed in black T-shirts with his photograph, wept and consoled one another. They called the sentence "just" and "fair."
His mother, Virginia, said she hopes Luna will take a plea deal to save her family from any more pain.
"This has been mentally and physically draining on everyone," she said. "I hope he doesn't put us through this again."