Gangbanger gets 40 years for killing hard-working student near Schurz High School

Chicago — A 21-year-old man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing a Northside College Prep student on the Northwest Side nearly four years ago.

Luis Castejon was 17 when he was accused of shooting 17-year-old Emanuel Gallegos to death in the 4400 block of West Addison in February 2019. Prosecutors charged him as an adult.

Emanuel Gallegos (left), and Luis Castejon, seen in his mugshot and in a video image released by Chicago police. | Elms Funeral Home; Cook County Sheriff’s Office; Chicago Police Department

Gallegos, a high-performing student at one of the city’s best public schools, rode along as a friend drove to pick up a third person at Schurz High School, 3601 North Milwaukee. Outside Schurz, Castejon approached one of Gallegos’s friends and asked for his gang affiliation.

The boy denied being a gang member and got into the car with Gallegos and the other person.

As the vehicle pulled away, Castejon fired on the car while yelling gang slogans, striking Gallegos twice, prosecutors said.

“I feel broken to know that this guy who was taller than me but still a kid died in my arms,” the driver, Steve Jaimes, told ABC7 in 2019. “He had a lot of goals, and they just got robbed from him. They just got robbed from him.”

Moments before the shooting, Castejon brandished a gun in a video he posted to Snapchat. Police released images from that video to the public as detectives tried to identify the killer.

On Wednesday, Judge James Linn sentenced Castejon to 34 years in prison for Gallegos’ murder and six consecutive years for attempted murder. The judge also sentenced him to a concurrent four years for aggravated discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle.

Castejon has not yet been transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections, so his estimated parole date is unavailable.

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CWBChicago was created in 2013 by five residents of Wrigleyville and Boystown who had grown disheartened with inaccurate information that was being provided at local Community Policing (CAPS) meetings. Our coverage area has expanded since then to cover Lincoln Park, River North, The Loop, Uptown, and other North Side Areas. But our mission remains unchanged: To provide original public safety reporting with better context and greater detail than mainstream media outlets. Our editorial email address is news@cwbchicago.com