By Vicky Wedig
Editor
A Delavan man was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison and 15 years extended supervision for shooting a man in the leg outside a Delavan bar in June.
The family of Tyler Montour, 25, pleaded for a lighter sentence, saying Montour was protecting himself and defending his family when he shot Blake A. Kruizenga, 23, of Delavan, outside the Hawk’s Nest on June 12.
But, Walworth County District Attorney Dan Necci refuted the family’s contention that Montour is not a cold-blooded killer.
“I submit to the court that it’s only because he’s a bad shot,” Necci said during Montour’s sentencing hearing Tuesday.
Montour shot at Kruizenga and Adrian Valadez, 26, from his vehicle outside the Second Street bar, striking Kruizenga in the leg, in what amounted to a gang-related drive-by shooting in Delavan, Necci said.
“That’s a shocking phrase in and of itself,” he said.
Necci said Montour is a member of the Latin Kings gang, and Kruizenga and Valadez are in a rival gang. If released to the community, he said, Montour will be held in high regard among the gang for the violent act.
“This defendant will gain prestige in the eyes of his peers for what he has done,” he said.
Montour’s family said the dispute was not gang-related but arose after Kruizenga and Valadez broke into Montour’s family’s home, terrorizing his mom and sister. Marissa Montour refuted Necci’s assertion that the act was “machismo, tough-guy, vigilante, gang-banger stuff.”
“He sat here and said this incident wasn’t because of me, but it was,” Marissa Montour told the court through tears Tuesday. “It wasn’t about the gang at all. It was about the home invasion.”
A jury found Montour guilty of attempted first-degree intentional homicide and possession of a firearm by a felon Sept. 30.
For complete coverage of Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, see next week’s Delavan Enterprise.
