Man gets 20 years for fatal Portage Park shooting in 2014

A man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting another man during an argument in the Northwest Side Portage Park neighborhood more than two years ago.

Zachary Stinson, 27, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Monday before Judge Thomas Byrne, according to Cook County court records.

About 1 a.m. Sept. 10, 2014, Gabriel Menses called Stinson and asked to meet up in the 5100 block of West Waveland Avenue, authorities said at the time.

Menses, 31, arrived in his vehicle and found Stinson in the backseat of a blue SUV. The two began arguing through the open vehicle windows, authorities said.

The driver of the SUV tried to drive away, but Menses pulled up to block the car, authorities said. Menses and Stinson began arguing again, then Stinson pulled out a gun and shot Menses four times.

Stinson and the others in the SUV fled after the shooting, and police found Menses shot in the back in the driver’s seat of his car, which had crashed into a tree and another parked vehicle, authorities said.

Menses, of the 4600 block of North Sayre Avenue in Norridge, was pronounced dead at the scene.

After the shooting, Stinson and his girlfriend fled to California, where he was arrested and extradited back to Illinois.

Judge Byrne sentenced Stinson to 20 years in prison Monday, according to court records. He will receive credit for 819 days served in the Cook County Jail, and will have to serve two years of supervised release.

Stinson was booked into the Stateville Correctional Center to begin serving his sentence Tuesday, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

He previously served a one-year sentence for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in 2011, according to IDOC records.