Twenty-nine months to the day since Arturo Cantu Jr. was gunned down outside his Bridgeview apartment, his family is still awaiting justice.
Cantu, 39, was murdered in a parking lot in the 7300 block of West 79th Street around 5 a.m. May 15, 2024, as he walked to his car, ready to drive to work.
He was the victim of a murder-by-hire plot orchestrated by his then girlfriend, the state has said.
And on Thursday, Oct. 15, the case against that woman was once again continued. Agnieszka Rydzewski is charged with solicitation to commit murder for her role in Cantu’s death.
The man who pulled the trigger, Anthony Calderon, of Bedford Park, was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison on Aug. 7.
In one of the most damning pieces of evidence presented by the state, Calderon received a text message from Rydzewski the night before the murder. It read “time to shine, babe.”
The two who worked together at a McDonald’s in Bridgeview had been having an affair for eight months before Cantu’s death, the state has said.
Those chilling four words stick with Cantu’s family
Yet another delay in the case angered Cantu’s mother, father, siblings and other relatives who expected Rydzewski would be sentenced Thursday in Room 101 at the Bridgeview Court House.
Associate Cook County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Ogarek continued the case until 9:30 a.m.Nov. 19.
This time, no discovery is needed. Rather, there’s a dispute about the sentencing between the state and defense.
The state allegedly wants her sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Bu that’s more than the maximum 15 years allowed for the crime, family members said after talking with assistant state’s attorney Zachary Peasall. He declined comment.
After the brief hearing, Cantu’s mother, Diana Pacheco, broke down weeping in the hallway outside the courtroom.
“I lost my mother. Why are they dragging this on?” Diana said.
Her mother, Alvera, 83, died on Aug. 27 from kidney failure, Diana said. “She died in my arms. She was in hospice in my home.”
Diana received a warm hug of consolation from Evelyn Valez, a victim witness specialist with the state’s attorney’s office who has worked with the family from the start.
Cervantez noted family members have attended each and every hearing.
“I understand the frustration. You come here. You’re a victim and you get victimized all over again. They have all the rights. The defendants have all the rights,” Cervantez told the family.
Cantu’s younger brother, Jose Pacheco, said the family is indeed frustrated.
“So, now they have to go back to the drawing board. If the max is 15, we want the 15 because a life was taken,” he said.
He fears that Rydzewski, who will get credit for the more than 800 days she has already spent in Cook County Jail, will spend less than 15 years in prison.
“A life was taken. He’s gone. We will never get him back,” Jose said. “We want justice. Fifteen years? We want (at least) 85 percent of 15 years.”
“The way I see it, she’s just trying to buy more time. She’s thinking that the more they prolong this, the more she’ll get credit for and the less (time in prison) she’ll get,” he said. “She needs to accept her fate so we can move on.”
Cantu’s father, Arturo Sr., who wore a T-shirt with his son’s face on it, when asked how he was doing, replied: “I’m not doing well. I’ve been depressed (for) more than two years.”
He said he never saw any indication that Rydzewwki would allegedly one day hire someone to murder his son.
“She used to come over to my house. Holidays. Thanksgiving. Christmas,” Arturo Sr. said.
He and Diana may have divorced many years ago.
Carolina Pacheco, of Brighton Park, the younger sister of the deceased, noted that Rydzewski for the first time “did look back at us.”
“She never did that before. Today, she did,” Carolina said.
Diana is angry that Rydzewski has everything that was taken from her son.
“She’s still alive. She still gets to eat. She gets to sleep. Drink. Walk around.
“We have to go to the cemetery (to visit him) and we cry. And we tell him every time we go there that we’re going to get justice for him, that it’s coming,” Diana said. “Now, it’s going to be continued for another month?”
Diana would love to see Rydzewski sentenced to more than Calderon’s 30 years because “she planned everything from the beginning.”
A possible motive came earlier in 2024 when Rydzewski helped Cantu obtain a life insurance policy worth $25,000, the state has said.
“You think you’re going to live on that. That will go nowhere,” Diana said.
Earlier, before the hearing and after she called for Rydzewski, wearing a blue jail-issued coverall, to be brought into her courtroom, Judge Ogarek had a question for defense attorney Vernon Schleyer.
“Did I keep them separated?” she asked, referring to Calderon.
“I think he’s finished,” Schleyer replied.
The family of the late Arturo Cantu Jr. is hoping the same can soon be said about his former girlfriend.