A judge on Friday sentenced a man to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to murder in the 2022 slaying of an 8-year-old girl who was shot while crossing the street with her mother in Little Village.
Xavier Guzman pleaded guilty in 2023, but received his punishment after the case against his co-defendant, Emilio Corripio, 20, resolved with a guilty plea in March.
On Jan. 22, 2022, Melissa Ortega walked hand-in-hand with her mother around West 26th Street and South Pulaski Road when, according to prosecutors, Corripio fired shots after seeing a gang rival flash a hand sign.
Corripio then got into a car driven by Guzman to buy sandwiches and drinks without “a care in the world,” prosecutors said at a 2022 hearing.
Then 16 and on juvenile probation, Corripio was a self-admitted member of the Latin Kings who opened fire in broad daylight at rival Two-Six gang members. He hit his target, but he also shot Melissa — who was wearing a pink hat — in the head.
The other victim survived the shooting.
Melissa’s family had immigrated to the U.S. the year before the killing and was “filled with dreams” at the prospect of a new life here, her mother said in a statement at the time of the shooting. She was in third grade at Emiliano Zapata Academy.
“We imagined a better life here. We came in search of the American Dream we so famously hear of but instead I get to live a nightmare for the rest of my life,” her mother said in the statement. “How is it possible that a little girl dies in broad daylight? How is it possible that we can send men to Mars but we can’t fix the gun violence in our city?”
Corripio pleaded guilty to murder on March 14 and was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
He had been charged as an adult, and was previously on juvenile probation for two carjackings and possession of a stolen car.
