Gyovanny Arzuaga, a 24-year-old Hispanic male, was a father of two who, according to friends, had a contagious laugh and a smile that could light up a room. He and his longtime girlfriend, Yasmin Perez, 25, were raising their two young children, Sofiya and Jayden, and had what a friend described as a love-at-first-sight relationship.
On the night of June 19, 2021, the couple was celebrating during the Puerto Rican Day festivities in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. Arzuaga was driving their Dodge Durango in the 3200 block of West Division Street when they were involved in a minor car crash. The accident quickly escalated into a violent confrontation as a group of people surrounded the vehicle and tried to drag Arzuaga out.
A chaotic struggle ensued, and during the melee, a gun Arzuaga was holding discharged. The shot inadvertently struck Yasmin Perez in the neck, and she fell to the pavement. As the crowd scattered, Arzuaga slumped over his injured girlfriend.
At that moment, a man named Anthony Lorenzi ran up and fired multiple shots at Arzuaga, killing him at the scene. Perez was rushed to a hospital but died from her injuries a few days later. The entire horrific incident was captured on police surveillance cameras and bystanders’ cell phones.
Video evidence was crucial in helping investigators identify Lorenzi as the man who shot Arzuaga. Police discovered that Lorenzi had fled Chicago the day after the shooting. Working with the U.S. Marshals Service, Chicago police tracked him to San Diego, California, where he was arrested on July 9, 2021. Lorenzi was extradited back to Chicago and charged with first-degree murder.
Lorenzi’s case went to a two-day bench trial before Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson. During the trial, Lorenzi testified that he only shot Arzuaga after seeing him shoot Perez. The judge, however, noted that Arzuaga was not facing Lorenzi or posing a threat at the time he was shot, and therefore Lorenzi could not argue self-defense.
In November 2024, Judge Stephenson found Anthony Lorenzi guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder. In February 2025, she sentenced him to 20 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed for the conviction.
