CHICAGO (CBS) — A man has been sentenced to more than 66 years in prison in Mexico for a shooting that left a 14-year-old Chicago boy in a comaand killed his father, uncle and a third man last month in Durango, two days after Christmas.
The US State Department has warned against traveling to the Durango area of Mexico due to an increase in gang-related crime.
Authorities in Mexico said 38-year-old Vicente Peña Jr.; his brother, 44-year-old Antonio Fernández; and a third man, 22-year-old Jorge Eduardo Vargas Aguirre, were killed in the Dec. 27 shooting on a highway in Durango. Peña’s 14-year-old son was also injured in the shooting and left in critical condition in a coma.
On January 4, Iram Uranga Armendáriz was arrested for the shooting and “agreed to a summary procedure”, which resulted in a prison sentence of 66 years, 7 months and 9 days, according to the Attorney General of the State of Durango. He was also ordered to pay a fine of approximately $25,000 and restitution of approximately $182,000.
Authorities said that on December 27 around 9 p.m., Armendáriz went with his partner to a house in the city of Cienega De San José for a family party, where Fernández and Peña were also present.
After getting out of his car, Armendáriz spoke to the two men about a $250,000 debt they owed him after giving them an advance on the purchase of a plot of land in the mountains of the nearby Altares community, which he no longer wanted to buy.
Fernández, Peña and Aguirre, and Peña’s son then followed Armendáriz and his partner to a highway interchange near the city of Las Palmas, where Fernández got out of their car around 10 p.m. and began arguing with Armendáriz, who pulled out a 9mm pistol. and shot him several times in the head.
Authorities said Armendáriz then shot Peña multiple times in the head, prompting Aguirre and Peña’s son to run away.
Armendáriz chased them and shot them both several times. Once they were on the ground, he shot them both in the head and fled the scene.
Peña, Fernández and Aguirre all died from their injuries. Peña’s son was seriously injured. According to published reports, he was later flown back to the US to be treated at a hospital in Houston.
An update on the boy’s condition was not available Saturday evening.
