The family of the late Arturo Cantu Jr. were in court again last week in Bridgeview, filling two rows in Room 101 for another status hearing in the case against two people charged with his murder.
The Nov. 3 hearing lasted all of two minutes.
Judge Margaret M. Ogarek set a 9:30 a.m. Jan. 14 date for the next status hearing after the state said it still needs DNA discovery for the case.
That January court date will be one day shy of 20 months since Cantu, 39, was gunned down on May 15, 2024.
Cantu was walking to his car early that morning outside his Bridgeview apartment.
He was heading to his job at WeatherTech in Bolingbrook, when he was allegedly shot to death by a man who was having an affair with Cantu’s longtime girlfriend.
Both of the accused were in court Nov. 3.
Cantu’s former girlfriend, Agnieszka Rydzewski, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, wore a Department of Corrections blue coverall over a long-sleeved white shirt.
Anthony Calderon, his hair shorter than the last hearing and his beard neatly trimmed, wore eyeglasses and a tan DOC coverall.
Neither made eye contact with Cantu’s grieving relatives.
After the hearing in the hallway outside the courtroom, his family shared frustration over how slow-moving wheels of justice in Cook County.
“We never see the end of it. (It’s almost) two years,” said Jose Pacheco, who is married to Cantu’s mother, Diana. “It’s tough. Very, very tough. Holidays. … It’s not easy. We try to go on with our lives.”
Jose wondered about the delays when “(Calderon) admitted it. They found the gun that he used.”
Cantu’s younger sister, Carolina Pacheco, wore a T-shirt bearing an image of her brother, as did his mother and his aunt, Delia Dominguez.
Diana and Delia’s older brother, Peter Reyes, 63, of Chicago, said he helped Arturo, his nephew, get a job as a cook for Aramark at Loyola University.
Cantu worked there for 13 years, he said.
“He was a good cook, of course he was,” Reyes said with a laugh.
Jose Pacheco knows Cantu’s talent in the kitchen.
“To tell you the truth, he used to cook really nice meals for the family,” Jose said.
“One time he made a Chinese dish, a lot of vegetables, that was really good. One Thanksgiving, he did come and help (his) mom cooking the ham and turkey,” Jose said.
Cantu “was always busy,” his uncle said. “He was a good kid. A hard worker. I was very upset (by news of his death).”
And like his relatives regarding the case, Reyes has one simple question: “What’s taking so long?”
Diana Pacheco said “I feel good that so many family members came here today.” But she is still frustrated.
“I really hope that we come to closure. We’ve waited too long,” Diana said. “This is just dragging, especially after (Calderon) gave himself up.
“(Rydzewski) was the one trying to make a run for it. She thought she’d take my son’s car and take off when they caught her,” Diana said.
According to prosecutors at a previous hearing, Rydzewski was having an affair with Calderon, a co-worker at a McDonald’s in Bridgeview, and eventually convinced him to shoot Cantu.
In one of the most chilling moments in court so far, the state said that she allegedly told Calderon the night before the shooting that it was “time to shine, babe,”
The next court date in January will be after Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
The family, Carolina said, will sorely miss Cantu on each of those holidays as they do every day.
But they do plan to be at the next hearing.
Jose Pacheco takes off from his job to be there to support his wife.
“No pay. But I’m happy with being able to take off (to be here). I don’t care about the pay. Money is not everything. Family is important,” Jose said.