Hung jury in murder case of East High soccer player

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Updated: March 13, 2012 10:25AM

YORKVILLE — After deliberating for 13 hours over two days, a Kendall County jury decided they were hopelessly deadlocked in an Oswego murder trial. Kendall County Judge John Barsanti declared a hung jury Friday afternoon, and dismissed the jurors.

That means Francisco Salazar, who turns 23 today, could face a second trial in May in the 2009 murder of Jason Ventura of Aurora and the attempted murder of another man. Jurors said they could not reach conclusions on any of the charges.

Testimony in the case began Monday and concluded around 2 p.m. Thursday. Jurors deliberated until around 10 p.m. Thursday, then returned Friday morning. At 2 p.m. Friday, jurors announced they had reached an impasse. Prior to that announcement, they had sent several questions for Barsanti that focused on the accountability of Salazar.

Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis said that at 12:51 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2009, Salazar was driving near Douglas and Long Beach roads when Zachary Reyes fired 11 shots at the car Ventura was driving.

Ventura, a junior at East Aurora High School who played on the school soccer team, had attended a birthday party the night he died. He was not a gang member, but had agreed to give a ride to some other teens who were in a gang, Weis said. The teens in Ventura’s car flashed gang signs at the other car, which instigated the shooting, Weis said.

Ventura was hit by five shots and an 18-year-old passenger was wounded. After the shooting, his car rolled into the front yard of a home near Long Beach and Sonora roads, in the Boulder Hill subdivision outside Oswego city limits. Ventura was pronounced dead at the scene.

After broadcasting a description of the shooter’s car, an Oswego officer was able to make a traffic stop near Broadway and Evans Avenue in Aurora, police said. Several people in the car were held for questioning. Reyes and Salazar were charged in the murder and attempted murder of Ventura’s passenger.

Defense attorney Liam Dixon argued that Salazar did not help plan or carry out the murder, and he was unaware that Reyes was going to start shooting. Salazar was more concerned about getting home than chasing Ventura’s car, Dixon said.

Reyes was convicted of Ventura’s murder late last month. He could be sentenced on March 29. Because the jury ruled that Reyes fired the shots that killed Ventura, he faces at least 92 years in prison.

Ventura’s family said the teen was planning to attend college, then go into coaching or law enforcement.