Trial into Addison fatal gang shooting opens

Lorenzo Salazar-Cortez was not a gang member.

But prosecutors said the factory worker died at the hands of two young men who were so entrenched in that underworld that it didn't matter how innocent their victim if he was in their way.

A DuPage County trial opened Wednesday for one of the men accused of the fatal shooting nearly two years ago in Addison.

Robert M. Meza, 21, of Joliet, is charged with first-degree murder. His co-defendant, Antonio Aguilar, 19, also of Joliet, faces a separate trial.

Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty against the men, neither of whom had a significant criminal history.

Salazar-Cortez was inside a friend's apartment at 320 Dale St., in the Highview Park neighborhood, about 5 a.m. Sept. 15, 2007, when an assailant opened fire from outside the building, through a window, before fleeing.

Salazar-Cortez, 22, who was shot four times, was the only one injured.

Nearly one month later, police arrested Aguilar and Meza after developing them as suspects.

Prosecutors Steven Knight and Helen Kapas-Erdman allege Aguilar was the shooter and Meza acted as the getaway driver. Meza never pulled the trigger, but Knight argues he is equally accountable because he conspired with Aguilar beforehand to commit murder.

Knight said the defendants are members of a particular street gang whose rivals were known to live in the apartment complex. He said they likely targeted the wrong apartment after confusing it with that of twin brothers who were part of the rival gang and lived nearby.

"They didn't kill a (gang member)," Knight told jurors. "They killed an innocent working man named Lorenzo. But for (Meza's) contribution, Lorenzo would still be alive."

Meza pleaded not guilty. His defense attorney, John P. Carroll, described Meza as a "good citizen" who became embroiled in the murder investigation after he voluntarily tried to help police crack the case. Carroll did not say whether Meza was with Aguilar, but he urged jurors in his opening statement to keep an open mind.

"This kid didn't shoot anybody," Carroll said. "The state suggests because of the conduct of someone else, he's guilty. His punishment for cooperating with police, like a good citizen, is that he's sitting here today."

Nineteen hours after the fatal shooting, prosecutors said, Meza drove back alone to Addison and spray painted gang graffiti in the apartment complex in which he boasts about the murder. He has remained in the DuPage County jail since his October 2007 arrest on a $1 million bond.

DuPage Circuit Judge George Bakalis is presiding over the murder trial.