$7.6 million settlement for man who spent 16 years in prison for murder before key witness recanted

A man whose murder conviction was tossed out after a key witness admitted to providing false testimony at trial is now primed to earn a $7.6 million settlement from the city, adding to the $2.4 million payout he received from Cook County.

John Velez was just 17 when he was found guilty of killing Anthony Hueneca in Pilsen in March 2001. Velez served 16 years in prison before the conviction was vacated based on the witness’s admission that he hadn’t actually seen the shooting happen.

Chicago police claimed Velez had sought retribution for the killing of his uncle roughly a year earlier, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. But Velez’s lawyers said that story was concocted and the cops had simply “decided to pin the murder on someone.”

Chicago police leaned on four people who were in the area when Hueneca was gunned down on March 19, 2001 — Gustavo Rivera and three friends who were waiting for him in a car as he stopped at a home, the lawsuit says.

As they waited, a man approached the three people in the car and told them to “get ready to die,” according to the lawsuit. Ultimately though, the man just shouted gang slogans disparaging the Latin Kings street gang and identified himself as a member of the rival Satan’s Disciples.

When the three people fled, they heard gunfire and saw men running down the street, the lawsuit says. Rivera also heard the shots from inside the home and found Hueneca wounded on the ground.

Chicago police soon began targeting Velez, who was at Area 4 police headquarters to help a friend when the cops brought Rivera and his friends in for questioning, according to the suit.

Chicago police alleged that Velez was a member of the Satan’s Disciples and had killed Hueneca days before the anniversary of his uncle's death as part of a war with the Latin Kings, the suit says. But Velez wasn’t involved with the Satan’s Disciples, and his uncle was a member of the Almighty Ambrose street gang.

Nevertheless, Rivera and his three friends all claimed Velez was the shooter, the lawsuit says. Rivera identified Velez as the gunman after police vowed to “help him out” with a recent drug conviction.

Velez’s girlfriend, who was pregnant with their child, was also coerced by police and pushed to implicate her boyfriend in Hueneca’s killing, according to the lawsuit. Two days after the fatal shooting, Cook County sheriff’s officers began investigating a shooting at a cemetery that left Velez’s girlfriend wounded.

In a statement, Velez’s girlfriend told police that she went to the cemetery to visit the grave of Velez’s uncle, backing up the “anniversary killing” narrative. She also said that Velez visited her at the hospital and admitted that “he had recently shot a Latin King” to avenge his uncle’s death, the lawsuit says.

But she later recanted, saying her “statement was a lie that had been coerced by the police” and she was visiting someone else’s grave, according to the suit. Despite that, her testimony was still read into evidence at the trial.

Velez was convicted of first-degree murder in October 2002 and was sentenced to 80 years in prison.

In 2016, Velez learned that Rivera had admitted he didn’t witness the shooting and only identified Velez to get a break in his own case. After Velez’s conviction was vacated, he walked free on Dec. 11, 2017.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners approved a $2.4 million settlement in January. The Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee will vote on the $7.6 million settlement on Monday.

The Finance Committee will also consider a $2.5 million settlement for the estate of Dana Hubbard, who was killed by the driver of a stolen car as he fled police in Englewood on April 18, 2019. The driver, Clarence Hebron, was also named in the lawsuit filed in Cook County court but he won’t have to pay anything.

If the Finance Committee accepts the settlements, they will be sent to the full City Council for final approval.