An Aurora-area man was sentenced to 60 years in prison for murdering his elderly neighbor during a 2007 break-in at the house the neighbor built himself after his military service in World War II.
Hector Mauricio, 25, had pleaded guilty last fall to the first-degree murder of Roscoe Ebey. Authorities say he stabbed Ebey more than 30 times and then ransacked his house before placing a gas canister on the victim’s body in an attempt to start a fire.
“It’s over, but it’s not over,” Richard Ebey, the victim’s son, said following the sentencing hearing, which had been suspended late last year while the General Assembly debated outlawing the death penalty in Illinois.
Prior to the state ban on capital punishment, Mauricio had been ruled eligible for death.
With a death sentence off the table, prosecutors Wednesday asked for a natural life sentence, or alternately, for a 63-year prison sentence. Including time already served, that would have seen Mauricio potentially freed at age 83, the same age Ebey was when he died, Kane County First Assistant State’s Atty. Jody Gleason said.
Much of the testimony Wednesday centered on Mauricio’s difficult upbringing.
When Mauricio was 6, his father, who was not part of his life, killed Mauricio’s older brother. Another brother was imprisoned for attempted murder. His sister testified that the four children often had to fend for themselves because of their alcoholic mother.
Before sentencing, Mauricio apologized for his crime and took responsibility, despite his family struggles.
“I could say, ‘Woe is me’ for my upbringing, but I won’t,” Mauricio told Judge Timothy Sheldon.
The judge acknowledged Mauricio’s past, calling him a victim of urban warfare.
“Mr. Mauricio had no chance; his life was ruined by his family,” said Sheldon, who also acknowledged the contributions of the victim.
“Mr. Ebey was a member of the greatest generation,” the judge said. “This court has the utmost respect for his service to this country. He was a good man, there is no doubt about that.”
Richard Ebey said his father personally constructed the family house when he returned home to Aurora after the war.
“He built it out of scrap, whatever he could find,” his son said.
The widower, a former railroad worker, lived in the house 62 years.
Following Ebey’s death, Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez established an annual citizenship award named in Ebey’s honor. After the hearing, Perez said he was hoping for a life sentence for Mauricio.
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