Gunman guilty in deadly Puerto Rican Day shooting

A Cook County judge handed down a guilty verdict Wednesday for the gunman in a fatal shooting that erupted during a chaotic melee at the 2021 Puerto Rican Day celebration in Humboldt Park.

In convicting Anthony Lorenzi of second-degree murder, Judge Domenica Stephenson acknowledged that two fatal volleys of gunshots took place on the night of June 19, 2021.

Gyovanny Arzuaga and his girlfriend Yasmin Perez had struggled with a group of people who tried to pull Arzuaga out of his Dodge Durango after a minor crash during the Puerto Rican Day festivities. As Arzuaga grappled with the group in the 3200 block of West Division Street, he fired a shot that inadvertenly hit Perez.

While the group scattered, Lorenzi ran up and shot Arzuaga as he slumped over his girlfriend in the street. Lorenzi was arrested in California days after the shooting, and he was initially charged with first-degree murder.

During a two-day bench trial, Lorenzi testified he hadn't known Arzuaga and wasn't aware the couple had two children together. He said he only knew that Arzuaga had fatally shot Perez.

Judge Stephenson said Lorenzi couldn't argue that he had fired in self-defense, unlike Arzuaga, who was trying to fend off an angry mob.

The shooting was captured by police surveillance cameras and bystanders' cellphone cameras.

Dozens of people were milling around on the street and sidewalk along Division Street that night. Arzuaga could be seen behind the wheel of his SUV, driving slowly down the block as Perez hung out of the sunroof and two friends waved Puerto Rican flags from the windows.

“At the time [Lorenzi] shoots at Mr. Arzuaga, Mr. Arzuaga is not facing the defendant,” Stephenson said. “The victim is not pointing his weapon … at the defendant. The defendant starts to duck and then decides to fire his weapon. He does not run away.”

In recounting the significant evidence against Lorenzi, the judge noted he had confessed to the shooting after his arrest.

As Stephenson announced her verdict of guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder, Lorenzi’s father began to weep as he sat in the courtroom gallery. Across the aisle, Arzuaga and Perez’s relatives scowled.

Second-degree murder carries a sentence of four to 20 years, with defendants eligible to cut their prison time in half for good behavior. The first-degree murder counts for which Lorenzi was charged carried a minimum sentence of 20 years, served at 100%.

Lorenzi’s father, Tony Lorenzi, still had tears in his eyes as he left the courthouse.

“This is a no-win situation for nobody,” he said. “I am so sorry for the family.”

Arzuaga's father, Dario Arzuaga, groaned loudly as he walked out of the gallery. He leaned on his forehead against the wall of an elevator, breathing heavily, as he rode the seven floors down from Stephenson’s courtroom to the lobby. He declined comment.

Stephenson set Lorenzi's next court date for Dec. 16, when he could be sentenced.