Aurora man convicted of second murder, faces life sentence
An Aurora man faces a mandatory natural life prison sentence after a Kane County judge convicted him of a second gang-related murder.
Ruben Hernandez, 28, was already serving a 40-year prison sentence for a September 2005 gang killing when he went on trial last week, accused in the November 2005 drive-by slaying of Michael Moore, 30, on Aurora’s east side.
Hernandez was convicted Wednesday of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
Kane County Judge Allen Anderson said testimony from fellow gang members that put Hernandez in van with other men who were driving around “hunting” members of a rival gang was credible.
The van pulled up next to a car in the 300 block of East Galena Boulevard the morning of Nov. 28, 2005, and two gang members opened fire, killing Moore and wounding another man in the car.
Although Hernandez didn’t pull the trigger, he was criminally responsible because he knew the other men planned to kill and he helped them, Anderson ruled.
“The sliding van door was held (open) by the defendant,” said Anderson, who presided over the three-day bench trial. “The defendant shared the criminal intent of others in the van.”
Hernandez was convicted in December 2008 of beating another man to death in September 2005 because he “falsely implied” he was a fellow gang member at a party by using a gang handshake without permission. Hernandez was among several who beat Jorge Caro, 25, to death with a baseball bat. Caro also was targeted because he cooperated in a 2003 murder investigation, authorities said.
He will be sentenced July 2 for Moore’s murder.