Man Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison After Opening Fire on Parked Minivan in River North

A man who once had his felony gun case steered into restorative justice court — where it was set to be resolved through “peace circles” — has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for opening fire on a parked minivan in River North, paralyzing a 21-year-old woman.

Ojani Cruz, now 22, was convicted by a jury on April 23 of attempted murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm toward an occupied vehicle. On Wednesday, Judge Stanley Sacks sentenced Cruz to seven years for the aggravated discharge count and a consecutive 43-year term for attempted murder.

The sentence marks a stunning reversal for Cruz, who was first arrested on April 6, 2022, when Chicago police allegedly found a gun in his waistband during a traffic stop.

Prosecutors charged him with a felony, but Judge Susana Ortiz released him on his own recognizance with electronic monitoring, noting that the money she could have ordered him to pay for bail would be better spent on his 3-year-old child.

Just one week later, another judge, Edward Maloney, removed Cruz from electronic monitoring, and prosecutors referred his case to restorative justice court. Under that program, according to the court’s website, his gun violation could have been resolved “through restorative conferences and peace circles,” with the possibility of having his case dismissed and his record expunged if he successfully completed the process.

Instead of staying on the straight and narrow, on May 29, 2022 — just a month after prosecutors agreed to the peace circle referral — Cruz allegedly opened fire on a parked minivan in the 500 block of West Erie Street near Ward Park.

Around 10 p.m. that night, an 18-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman were sitting in the van when the man saw Cruz, an old high school classmate and former baseball teammate, walking nearby, prosecutors said. The two spoke briefly before Cruz walked away. Minutes later, Cruz returned with three other men.

Cruz leaned into the driver’s window, asked if his former classmate was still sleeping with a woman they both once dated, and then punched him in the face, prosecutors said. Two of Cruz’s companions joined in the attack.

At one point, a male voice told Cruz to “blow that m**********r,” prosecutors said. Cruz allegedly pulled out a gun and fired repeatedly into the van, circling it as he emptied his weapon. Police later found nine bullet holes in the van and recovered 17 shell casings from the scene.

The 18-year-old driver wasn’t struck, but the 21-year-old passenger was shot in the back and left paralyzed from the waist down.

Cruz was arrested a few days later as he walked out of restorative justice court. At the time, he was the 24th person accused that year of shooting or attempting to shoot someone in Chicago while on felony pretrial release.

Cruz must serve 100% of the attempted murder sentence and 85% of the aggravated discharge sentence. On Thursday, prosecutors dropped the gun charge that Cruz was supposed to wash away by attending peace circles. They also dropped a charge of possessing a weapon in a penal institution, which he picked up while awaiting trial.