Pair get four years for 2009 Lorain shooting

Andrew Lorenzana and Avery Taylor will spend the next four years behind bars for their role in the 2009 shooting death of Christopher Lundberg in Lorain.

The pair, both 27, appeared for sentencing July 14 before Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James L. Miraldi.

They were there nearly three weeks earlier to plead guilty on amended indictments of one count of reckless homicide and five counts of involuntary manslaughter. The involuntary manslaughter charges also carry a oneyear mandatory firearm specification.

Lorenzana also was sentenced to one year in jail on a separate drug case, but that sentence will run concurrently.

According to Lorain police, Lundberg was shot and killed Feb. 3, 2009, after driving with another man to the area of West 29th Street and Ashland Avenue to buy crack cocaine.

Lundberg was shot once after the deal went sour.

Before the sentence was handed down, Lorenzana told the court he was sorry for what happened and he intended to turn his life around.

“This changed my life,” he said. “I apologize for everything.”

Taylor echoed Lorenzana’s sentiment.

“Thank you for the opportunity,” he said. “I plan on keeping my end of the bargain as far as getting in programs so I can be a better part of the community.

“I apologize for everything that happened. I wish it didn’t happen.”

County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Pierre also read letters from Lundberg’s mother, brother and eldest daughter.

Pierre said the victim’s family would not attend the sentencing for fear of reprisals from any acquaintances of Lorenzana and Taylor who may have appeared at the proceeding.

Jacqueline Lundberg, the victim’s mother, wrote about her opposition to a possible plea bargain since the family was forced to take him off life support.

The letter also said Lorenzana and Taylor had robbed her son prior to the shooting, and used the personal documents they took to strike fear into her family.

She said the family had been repeatedly threatened by the pair and their friends.

“Please get this evil off the streets,” she wrote.

Next, the letter from William Lundberg, the victim’s brother, expressed deep pain at having to write it at all.

“Chris was never a perfect person, nor do I express that he was,” Pierre read from Lundberg’s letter. “He had his problems from time to time, but somehow, Chris remained to be the type of person that people welcomed with open arms.”

Paige Lundberg, the victim’s 22-year-old eldest daughter, was 14 when her father died.

In her letter, she expressed a hope the pair would turn their lives around in prison.

“No matter how long they sit in prison, it will never bring my dad back,” she wrote. “Hopefully, they can sit in prison and have anxiety about the time they have wasted because of what happened and learn from their mistakes.

“I hope they can forgive themselves for all the damage they caused and I hope they can turn their lives around so they can start a real life without violence and crime.”

Pierre also asked the court to consider a longer sentence despite Miraldi’s assurances at their plea that he would only give the pair the mandatory four years in prison.

As part of the sentence, the two are required to pay $2,704.45 in restitution for Lundberg’s funeral expenses, and they will be on post-release control for five years after they are released.

According to Lorain police, Lundberg was shot and killed Feb. 3, 2009, after driving with another man to the area of West 29th Street and Ashland Avenue to buy crack cocaine.