Man gets 75 years for 2013 fatal shooting of Roberto Clemente student

A man has been sentenced to 75 years in prison for the fatal shooting of a Roberto Clemente High School student in 2013.

Larry Luellen, 41, was convicted of murder on June 23 following a jury trial before Judge Arthur Hill Jr., according to Cook County court records.

Luellen was aiming for a 28-year-old man he was arguing over a drug deal with, when he instead shot 18-year-old Frances Colon, a college-bound senior at Clemente High, authorities said at the time.

Luellen, a member of the Black P Stones gang, got into a drug-related dispute with the intended target 20 minutes before the shooting about 7 p.m. on Feb. 15, 2013, according to prosecutors. He then went to a barber shop to get a gun and returned, chasing the man and firing six times, but missing him and striking Colon once in the upper back.

Officers nearby heard the gunshots and found Colon in the 1100 block of North Pulaski. She was able to identify herself to police.

She died about an hour later at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy found she suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the back.

The intended target of the shooting, the 28-year-old son of a local pastor, had an extensive criminal background, and refused to cooperate with police, who believed he knew the shooter.

Judge Hill handed down the 75-year sentence on July 31, according to court records.

Luellen, a Bolingbrook resident, was booked into the Menard Correctional Center to begin serving his sentence on Aug. 1, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.