22 years in Bucktown bat beating
Marcy Cruz, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder and as part of a plea will testify against co-defendant Heriberto Viramontes in a savage attack on two young women.
The girlfriend of a man accused of beating two women unconscious with a baseball bat in Bucktown three years ago was sentenced to 22 years in prison on Tuesday.
Marcy Cruz, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to 11 years in prison for each count, said Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton. She must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence.
As part of the plea, Cruz will testify against co-defendant Heriberto Viramontes, Simonton said.
The two are accused of robbing and beating Stacy Jurich, and Natasha McShane, in April 2010 under a railroad viaduct in the 1800 block of North Damen Avenue.
Prosecutors said Cruz told her boyfriend to “look at all those drunk a------- coming out of the bar,” moments before Viramontes attacked McShane and Jurich.
Cruz pointed out the victims in the early hours after Viramontes told her he needed “quick money and drugs,” prosecutors said at the time.
Moments later, he jumped from her van, attacked the women as they walked home from a night out, then sped off with Cruz in the van.
Jurich needed 15 staples in her head, while McShane was beaten so severely, she was unable to walk, talk, eat or move her arms. McShane, a Northern Island exchange student, was flown to a Belfast hospital in July 2010. She opened her eyes for the first time seven days after the attack.
By early June 2010, she was out of a medically induced coma after a part of her brain was removed, and was improving. She was able to whisper simple words, such as “yes” and “no.” She started to use her arms and to talk, was breathing without assistance and re-learned how to eat and drink, her parents said at the time.