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  1. #1
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    Illegal gets 24 years in prison for killing infant daughter

    'She was killed by his own hands'

    October 18, 2007
    By ART PETERSON apeterson@scn1.com

    Gerardo Hernandez, who still has support from his wife and family despite pleading guilty to murdering his infant daughter, was sentenced Wednesday to 24 years in prison.

    Speaking through an interpreter, a tearful Hernandez, 31, of Round Lake Beach, apologized and asked for forgiveness, saying he had found God in prison and will lead a good life.

    His wife and members of both their families gave Lake County Circuit Court Judge Fred Foreman letters, with translated copies, voicing their support of Hernandez and urging a minimal sentence. Hernandez was facing a sentence ranging from 20 to 40 years in prison.

    The girl, Juanita, died of suffocation while being cared for by her father, in her parents' apartment in Round Lake Beach in March 2005. Her body was placed in a green tool bag and left along the Edens Expressway, under the Tower Road overpass in Cook County. The Cook County Coroner determined that the cause of death was homicide.

    "This was a cruel, irrational act," Foreman said, "Your conduct caused the death of a child and you reacted in a way that fathers are not expected to act. You thought of yourself and disregarded your responsibility as a father."

    Hernandez did not call for help, Foreman said, "and you cast off your child by the side of the road."

    Foreman told Hernandez, who is an illegal alien, "after serving the sentence you most likely will be deported to Mexico" and not allowed back into the U.S.

    Justice in the U.S. requires judges to consider "providing an opportunity for people to be rehabilitated," Foreman said, but because of "this unspeakable conduct, I can't consider only the minimum sentence."

    Hernandez, pausing to take off his glasses and wipe away tears, said "My heart is very pained to know my wife is by herself and our two children are growing up without their father." He said he came to the U.S. 16 years ago and "grew up without a father or mother."

    In jail "I discovered Christ's love. It is never too late to get back to the right path. After I do my time, I know you won't see me again," Hernandez said.

    Prosecutor Eric Kalata said Juanita "wasn't given an opportunity to live. For reasons we'll never know, she was killed by his own hands. If there are tears to be shed, it should be for Juanita. Her life was snuffed out by the rash act of (Hernandez)."

    He "disposed of her like garbage," Kalata said. "He didn't call 9-1-1."

    Hernandez had been on probation, following earlier arrests for theft, driving without a license and other traffic offenses.

    "He pleaded guilty but still refers to this as an accident," Kalata said, "The court should impose a significant sentence."

    Jennifer Snyder, assistant public defender, recommended a sentence of 22 years. "He has taken responsibility and speaks from the heart." The letters from his wife and family, she added, speak to "his character and attitude.

    "Everyone said he was hard-working, honest and a great father," Snyder said. "Everybody believed this was far outside his normal conduct."

    http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article
    287(g) + e-verify + SSN no match = Attrition through enforcement

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