Teen Sentenced In Round Lake Beach Robbery Death

LAKE COUNTY, IL — An 18-year-old woman, who pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in the death of 43-year-old Trinidad Bueno-Sanchez, was sentenced to three years in prison Monday afternoon.

Courtney Sherman, 18, of the unit block of Tweed Road in Fox Lake, was with four other teen girls, ages 16 and 17, on the night of April 24 when a planned robbery went wrong, resulting in the death of Bueno-Sanchez. The tragic incident happened around 8 p.m. at a Meijer parking lot.

Bueno-Sanchez walked up to the passenger side of the car the girls were in in hopes of selling a cell phone. They had made contact and arrangements through the Offer Up app, a service allowing people to buy and sell items directly from and to each other.

Bueno-Sanchez handed the girl the phone, for which he was supposed to receive $450, according to reports. That juvenile then handed him an envelope containing only a fraction of the agreed upon price. Part of Bueno-Sanchez' body was leaning inside the vehicle and he was discussing the discrepancy in price when the 17-year-old driver accelerated and Bueno-Sanchez was dragged by the vehicle. Bueno-Sanchez eventually became detached, struck his head on the pavement and the vehicle fled the scene, according to police.

Bueno-Sanchez was brought to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Sherman was reported as the "mastermind" of the botched robbery effort. She cried throughout her sentencing, according to the Lake County News-Sun, and the judge once had to put the court in recess to allow her to compose herself.

Bueno-Sanchez was a father of seven. A family friend set up a GoFundMe page to help them financially. "I am raising money to help the family with the cost of his funeral and medical expenses. This has been a very traumatic experience for the whole family and I just want to try and make it a little easier," the page says.

The family is also suing Sherman and the parents of the two juvenile girls, calling for payment for their pain and suffering as well as related costs, like Bueno-Sanchez' funeral.

Article image via Round Lake Beach Police Department