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Gangbanger Sentenced to 90 Years for Killing Pregnant Mom, Child in Arson

By Erin Meyer | April 9, 2014 4:04pm | Updated on April 9, 2014 4:12pm
 Jovan Djurdjlov, convicted in a 2009 double murder by arson that killed a pregnant woman and her young daughter, was sentenced Wednesday to 90 years in prison.
Jovan Djurdjlov, convicted in a 2009 double murder by arson that killed a pregnant woman and her young daughter, was sentenced Wednesday to 90 years in prison.
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Cook County Sheriffs Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — The gangbangers Jovan Djurdjlov was running with when he set fire to a Northwest Side apartment — killing a pregnant woman and her child — are a "plague" on the city, a judge said Wednesday after sentencing the young man to what will almost certainly be life in prison.

Djurdjlov, also known as "Yogi,"was convicted in January of a double murder by arson that took the lives of Rosanna Ocampo, 23, and her daughter Itzel Fernandez, 7, in 2009. Djurdjlov was 17 at the time of the fire.

"Gangs and gang activity are a plague on our city and our society," Judge Lawrence Flood said before sentencing Djurdjlov. Under the terms of the sentence, Djurdjlov will have to serve the entire 90-year sentence.

"This was a contemplated act that you got yourself involved in," the judge said, noting that he observed no sign of remorse from Djurdjlov through the course of the trial.

Djurdjlov and a fellow Spanish Cobras member were gunning for a member of a rival gang when they doused the stairs of an Albany Park apartment building with gasoline and set the dwelling ablaze on Jan. 31, 2009, prosecutors said at trial.

But the flames never found their target, they said. Instead, the fire ripped through the three-flat. In addition to Ocampo and Itzel Fernandez, several other residents were injured.

Djurdjlov was later identified by another Spanish Cobra who testified under subpoena that "Yogi" admitted his involvement.

The witness testified that Djurdjlov showed up at his place on the West Side on the night the blaze was set. Djurdjlov reeked of gasoline and asked to use the bathroom to change clothes, the witness testified.

But Michael Monaco, a criminal defense attorney representing Djurdjlov, argued that witnesses called by the state could not be trusted to tell the truth.

Djurdjlov, the only one charged in the case, was convicted by a jury in January.

But Djurdjlov's family members maintained his innocence, and said Wednesday that he would appeal the verdict.

Family members of the victims, however, applauded the liklihood Djurdjov "will spend his life in prison," as Ocampo's little sister, Cindy Abarca, said following the hearing.

"Because that coward set the building on fire, my family and other families were left homeless, but we had the biggest loss without two beautiful girls," Abarca said.