A Cook County judge on Tuesday sentenced the man who murdered on-duty Chicago Police Officer Andrés Vásquez Lasso to life in prison, but a law passed in 2023 will allow him to seek release after serving 40 years because he was under 21 when he committed the crime.
Judge John Lyke ordered Steven Montano, now 21, to serve life on three murder counts, a concurrent 45-year term on three additional murder counts, a concurrent 20-year term on two more murder counts, and a consecutive one-year sentence for unlawful possession of a weapon, according to court records. A jury convicted Montano on July 21.
Prosecutors said Montano was 18 when he fatally shot the 32-year-old officer on March 1, 2023, moments after fleeing a domestic disturbance call in the 5200 block of South Spaulding.
Montano allegedly argued with his 37-year-old girlfriend that afternoon, charged at her, and threatened to get a gun. The woman slipped out a side door and called 911, telling dispatchers Montano had a firearm before he grabbed her phone during the call, hung up, and threw it to the ground…