Two years ago, Andres Ramirez walked out of his Aurora home with a gun and starting shooting at a police car driving down the street. He will now likely spend the rest of his life in jail.
At about 7:30 p.m. in the evening on March 19, 2020, Ramirez, identified by authorities as a gang leader, stepped out of a residence in the 200 block of Jefferson Street, Aurora, and fired eight shots from a handgun in the direction of a marked Aurora police car that was driving down the street.
One bullet struck a house across the street and another struck a car that was parked in the street. No one was injured.
Ramirez was on parole at the time for a 2003 offense of attempt first-degree murder. He was sentenced to 16½ years in prison and placed on three years of mandatory supervised release in 2017 for that offense.
In May, a jury found Ramirez guilty of the offenses of armed violence, Class X felony, aggravated discharge of a firearm, Class 1 felony, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, Class 2 felony.
Last week, Judge David P. Kliment has sentenced the 48-year-old Ramirez to 55 years of imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
“Mr. Ramirez is a lifelong criminal,” Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Lori Anderson commented after the verdict. “He joined a street gang when he was 14 years old and at one time was the leader of that gang. His history of violence in the city of Aurora is more than sufficient justification for this lengthy prison term. I wish to thank ASA Joe Gay for his assistance with this prosecution. I also wish to thank everyone at the Aurora Police Department, especially the Special Operations Group, for their daily work on behalf of the citizens of their city.”
The sentence is 55 years for the armed violence offense and 25 years for the aggravated discharge offence. The terms are to be served concurrently. According to Illinois law, Ramirez is eligible for day-for-day sentencing on the 55-year term and must serve at least 85 percent of the 25-year term. Ramirez faced a minimum sentence of 20 years of imprisonment.
