CHICAGO — Two Chicago men who were on felony bail for gun charges when they opened fire on a carload of people last year, leaving two injured, have been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Hector Rivera, a 30-year-old with seven previous felony convictions, and Luis Molina, 29, each pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder in exchange for the sentences from Judge Tyria Walton, according to court records.
Molina was AWOL from electronic monitoring for his third felony gun case at the time of the shooting. Rivera was on bond for his third gun case.
Authorities said five friends, including three who had just got off work at McDonald’s, were targeted after they rode to a liquor store on the 2300 block of West 21st Street around 10:45 a.m. on April 6, 2022. While one victim stepped out of the car to enter the store, two gunmen began shooting him and the remaining victims inside the vehicle.
The car’s driver sped away from the gunfire and headed to a hospital because two of the passengers realized the gunmen had shot them. Officials said an 18-year-old woman suffered a gunshot wound to her bicep, and a 19-year-old man was shot in the stomach.
Detectives identified Molina and Rivera from crystal-clear surveillance video that allegedly showed both holding guns inside the liquor store and shooting the guns outside the business.
Chicago police caught up with Molina four days later. He had been wanted on an escape from electronic monitoring warrant since he went missing seven months earlier. Earlier this year, Molina pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in exchange for a four-year sentence in that case. Prosecutors agreed to drop the escape charge in the deal.
Rivera also pleaded guilty to the gun case he had pending at the time of the shooting, receiving a two-year sentence last summer.
Molina is expected to be paroled on October 24, 2039. Rivera’s anticipated parole date is January 10, 2035.
Molina was the 21st person accused of killing or shooting—or trying to shoot or kill—someone in Chicago during 2022 while awaiting trial for a felony. Rivera was the 15th.