A man who once had his felony gun case initially sent to restorative justice court and was supposed to be addressed through “peace circles” has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for shooting at a parked minivan in River North, paralyzing a 21-year-old woman.
On April 23, a jury convicted Ojani Cruz, aged 22, of attempted murder and aggravated discharge of a handgun into an inhabited vehicle. Cruz was sentenced to seven years in prison for aggravated discharge and a consecutive 43-year term for attempted murder on Wednesday by Judge Stanley Sacks.
The sentencing is a startling reversal for Cruz, who was detained on April 6, 2022, when Chicago police allegedly discovered a gun in his belt during a traffic stop.
Prosecutors charged him with a felony, but Judge Susana Ortiz freed him on his recognizance with electronic monitoring, noting that the money she could have ordered him to pay in bond would be better spent on his 3-year-old child.
Only a week later, another judge, Edward Maloney, withdrew Cruz from electronic monitoring and referred his case to restorative justice court. According to the court’s website, under that program, his gun violation might have been resolved “through restorative conferences and peace circles,” with the prospect of having his case dropped and his record deleted if he successfully finished it.
Instead of following the rules, Cruz allegedly opened fire on a parked minivan on May 29, 2022, just a month after prosecutors consented to the peace circle referral.
Around 10 p.m. that night, an 18-year-old male and a 21-year-old woman were sitting in the vehicle when the person noticed Cruz, an old high school classmate and former baseball buddy, walking close, prosecutors said. Cruz walked out after only a brief conversation. Cruz returned minutes later, along with three other males.
Cruz leaned into the driver’s window, inquired if his former classmate was still sleeping with a lady they had dated, and then hit him in the face, according to authorities. Two of Cruz’s companions joined in the assault.
According to prosecutors, at one point, a male voice instructed Cruz to “blow that m**********r.” Cruz allegedly drew a gun and fired repeatedly into the van, circling it while emptying his weapon. Police later discovered nine bullet wounds in the van and seized 17 shell casings from the scene.
The 18-year-old driver was not injured, but the 21-year-old passenger was shot in the back and left paralyzed from the waist down.
Cruz was arrested a few days later as he walked out of a restorative justice hearing. At the time, he was the 24th individual charged with shooting or attempting to shoot someone in Chicago while on felony pretrial release.
Cruz must serve the entirety of the attempted murder sentence and 85% of the aggravated discharge sentence. On Thursday, prosecutors withdrew the firearms charge Cruz was meant to dismiss by participating in peace circles. They also dropped an allegation of having a weapon in a correctional institution, which he acquired while awaiting trial.
