Maya found guilty on all counts in murder of Romeoville teen

JOLIET – Throughout his two-week murder trial, Erick Maya maintained the same posture and position at the defense table.

He sat slightly forward with his head down and did not look as witness after witness testified about his relationship with Briana Valle.

Though he was asked to stand, his demeanor did not change Friday as the jury announced he was guilty on all counts.

The jury deliberated for less than two hours before reaching a verdict. Maya continued looking away as the jury returned while Valle’s mother, Alicia Guerrero, looked up to the ceiling.

“I was thinking about my daughter,” she said later.

Maya, 24, was called “a coward” Friday by Assistant Will County State’s Attorney Chris Koch in closing arguments.

The prosecutor said Maya tried to control Valle, a 15-year-old student at Romeoville High School.

When Valle ended their relationship, Maya went to her Romeoville home Feb. 13 and ambushed Valle and Guerrero, Koch said.

Valle died after being shot in the head through the window of her mother’s car.

Guerrero was struck near her collarbone and survived.

Maya, of Cicero, was found guilty of two counts of murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and unauthorized possession of a firearm by a felon. He faces at least 71 years in prison when he is sentenced by Judge Robert Livas on Oct. 20.

Guerrero sobbed frequently during closing arguments Friday morning and left the courtroom when defense attorney George Lenard said police “put their blinders on” to focus on Maya and not another suspect.

Dylan Somma, who lived on Emery Avenue where the shooting occurred, was arrested running from the police as they searched for the shooter on Feb. 13. Somma testified last week that he fled because he was wanted on outstanding warrants and police had flooded the neighborhood after the shooting.

During his testimony, Somma said he’d never met Valle, Guerrero or Maya.

About 15 minutes after beginning deliberations, the jury asked to review the transcript of Somma’s testimony. After Livas read the testimony for them again, the jury deliberated for about another hour before reaching their verdict.

Valle’s parents, a handful of family members, Romeoville police officers and reporters sat in the courtroom audience. None of Maya’s family attended.

Foreman Ryan Connelly said when jurors began deliberations “everybody was pretty much on the same page” regarding Maya’s guilt, but they wanted to confirm they recalled Somma’s claims accurately.

“The way the case was presented gave a very clear picture of what happened,” Connelly said. “Everyone felt [Maya] was responsible.”

In separate interviews, three courthouse employees described Maya’s expression as “a smirk” while he was taken from the courtroom to be transported back to the county jail Friday afternoon.

“We’re happy with the verdict. We’re grateful for all the hard work from the state’s attorney, the Romeoville police and our victim advocate,” Guerrero said. “I also want to thank the jurors.”

Maya met Valle through Facebook in the summer of 2012 and the girl soon ran away to be with the man who was eight years older than her. Despite her parents’ efforts to keep her from contacting him, Valle continued to see Maya and accepted “an engagement ring.” The family moved to Romeoville in 2013, but Valle and Maya continued to exchange text messages using her friends’ phones.

When Valle broke off the relationship in December and told Maya she had been seeing a 17-year-old boy from school, he sent messages threatening to rape and kill her and her family. Guerrero obtained an order of protection against Maya.

Maya on Feb. 11, according to a cab driver's testimony at the trial, took a taxi to the 300 block of Emery Avenue where Valle lived, and left. Two days later, he called the same taxi driver for another ride to the same block and arrived about 15 minutes before the shooting. A few hours later police found Maya hiding under a porch two blocks away.

“Erick Maya would have to be the unluckiest person in the world to be found hiding under a porch in a town he has no business being in while the person he’s been threatening to kill is shot a block away,” Koch said. “He’s a coward. He couldn’t accept sometimes relationships don’t work. He couldn’t accept people move on.

“And he couldn’t face her when he shot her,” Koch said.