Aurora teen sentenced to 33 years in prison for drug deal murder

A 19-year-old Aurora man has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for murdering a man during a drug deal.

Zahmeir Andrews, of the 1300 block of Monomoy Street, was sentenced on Monday by Kane County Judge David Kliment, according to the Kane County state’s attorney’s office.

Kliment convicted Andrews of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, attempted armed robbery and unlawful possession of a weapon in July.

Andrews killed Edwin Varela, 19, on Aug. 20, 2023, authorities said.

Authorities said police responding to reports of gunfire found Varela suffering from gunshot wounds in a crashed vehicle at about 7:24 p.m. in the 1300 block of North Glen Circle in Aurora.

Prosecutors said Varela and his girlfriend were on their way to dinner when he told her he had to make a stop to sell marijuana and vape cartridges.

He was discussing payment with three people when Andrews approached the vehicle, carrying a handgun, prosecutors said. When Varela backed out of a driveway and started to drive off, Andrews fired into the vehicle, prosecutors said.

Three others were charged in connection with the shooting. Two were juveniles, and the state’s attorney’s office did not provide the disposition of their cases.

The third, 18-year-old Daniel D. Robinson, is awaiting trial.

Andrews was sentenced to 25 years on the first-degree murder conviction and eight years on the attempted murder charge. He will have to serve all of the murder sentence, then at least 85% of the attempted murder sentence, before being eligible for parole.

He received credit for the three years he has spent in jail awaiting trial and sentencing.

ssarkauskas@dailyherald.com