The third of three people accused of the fatal 2013 beating of a rival gang member after a party in west suburban West Chicago was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday.
Jonathan Jimenez, 21, of Aurora, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the Nov. 17, 2013, death of Thomas Tecuatl, according to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office. Judge Daniel Guerin sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
Prosecutors claimed Jimenez and two other defendants chased Tecuatl out of a house party on Pomery Street near Route 59 after Tecuatl pulled a knife during a dispute.
As they chased him, some partygoers armed themselves with items from the home, including a pick ax, pipe, bricks and bottles, prosecutors said.
A co-defendant, Anthony Rios, allegedly struck Tecuatl with a pike, while a second co-defendant, Martinez, chased him down the block with a pick ax held above his head, the Sun-Times reported previously.
Tecuatl ran, but slipped on wet pavement and fell, dropping the knife. Prosecutors allege the assailants then pummeled him as he “curled up in a ball.”
Eventually they stepped back, making way for Jonathan Jimenez, who stabbed Tecuatl several times in the side with the knife he had dropped, prosecutors alleged.
All three defendants went back to the party after the murder, prosecutors said.
A homeowner found the 22-year-old Wheaton resident’s body on his lawn the next morning after stepping out to pick up the newspaper, the Sun-Times reported.
Both of Jimenez’s co-defendants pleaded guilty to armed violence last month. Rios, of West Chicago, was sentenced to 17 years in prison, and Martinez got 14 years.
