Attorney: Gang's gun keeper not 'a monster'

[Bullfighter]

Denies client knew TEC-9 would be used in slaying last October​

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The mother of a 21-year-old DePaul University student sat in court Friday, watching a silent, grainy surveillance video that captured her son's life coming to an end in a hail of bullets.

And when the video was over, Joy McCormack rushed sobbing from the courtroom -- on the first day of trial for the man accused of supplying the murder weapon, Berly "Billy" Valladares.

Francisco "Frankie" Valencia, a political science major, was at a Halloween party in Logan Square last year, when a group of Maniac Latin Disciples showed up, angry that they'd been forced to leave the party earlier that night, prosectors say. Valencia happened to be standing in the gangway outside the party, in the 1700 block of North Rockwell, when Narcisco Gatica, then 19, allegedly opened fire with a TEC-9 semiautomatic, fatally wounding Valencia and injuring his girlfriend.

Gatica's trial is pending.

On Friday, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Ray Brogan told jurors that Valladares, 21, was the gang's "keeper of the gun."

After the gang members were told to leave the party -- because they hadn't been invited -- they went to see Valladares, "to let him know what had happened and see what was going to be done about it," Brogan said.

"He gave them the weapon, and he even loaded the weapon," Brogan said of Valladares during opening statements. Valladares is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Brogan told jurors to expect evidence that would be both "grim" and "straightforward."

Valladares' attorney, David Wiener, sought to downplay his client's importance in the gang hierarchy.

"He's not an angel," Wiener said. "He's not a saint. Nor is he a monster."

Wiener asked jurors to look beyond "sympathy" and "prejudice" in the case and consider whether Valladares knew his fellow gang members were going to commit a crime when he handed over the gun. In a short hearing before the jury was brought into the courtroom, Wiener told Judge Matthew Coghlan that his client plans to testify that "he had no idea a crime was going to be committed."

Later in the day, Valencia's girlfriend, Daisy Camacho, testified that she was outside the party with Valencia when the bullets came.

"We heard gunshots -- like four pops," said Camacho, 22. "I threw myself to the ground."

In the confusion, Camacho said, she didn't at first realize she'd been shot, and she testified she didn't see the person who shot her.

The trial continues Monday.

Attorney: Gang's gun keeper not 'a monster' :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Chicago Crime

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In a civilized world, why would the American people allow this scum to walk the streets of Chicago while wasting manpower in other parts of the world? Who are American troops protecting on the other side of the world?