Politics
Pay $9M to Man Who Spent 17 Years in Prison After Being Wrongfully Convicted, City Lawyers Recommend
(WTTW News)
Chicago taxpayers should pay $9 million to a man who spent 17 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of murdering a woman in a December 2002 gang-related shooting, city lawyers recommended.
Daniel Ochoa was sentenced to 90 years in prison for murdering 15-year-old Marilu Socha in a drive-by shooting in Little Village, records show.
The proposed $9 million settlement is set to be considered Monday by the City Council’s Finance Committee. A final vote of the City Council could come on July 15.
Marilu was killed while walking with her boyfriend and two friends, who belonged to the Two-Six street gang. Before the shooting, the gunman identified themselves as a member of the Latin Kings street gang, records show. Only Marilu was wounded.
After interrogating two men found with a car that matched the description of the one used to kill Marilu, Chicago police detectives said they identified the gunman as Ochoa, who was then 20 years old, records show.
Three men later implicated Ochoa in the murder after detectives told them they would be released if they did so, records show. All three were convicted of murdering Marilu based on their confessions, which they testified were coerced and written in English, which they could not understand.
While searching Ochoa’s home for the gun used to kill Marilu, Chicago Police Detective Jose Lopez punched Ochoa in the abdomen, struck him in the groin with his department-issued flashlight, Ochoa told authorities. No weapon was found.
While being interrogated by Lopez, Ochoa said he was not a member of the Latin Kings, but a Mexican national who came to Chicago for work.
Ochoa said Lopez, who spoke Spanish, translated what he said for an assistant state’s attorney but falsely told her that Ochoa had confessed to the shooting and hiding the gun. Even though he spoke only Spanish, Ochoa signed a statement written in English that confessed to the killing.
No physical evidence linked Ochoa, or the three men who implicated him, with Marilu’s murder.
After being convicted in 2005 and sentenced to 90 years in prison, an appeals court tossed out Ochoa’s conviction, finding that Lopez and another Chicago police detective improperly testified about how they identified Ochoa as a suspect in the murder.
Ochoa was tried again, and convicted again in 2013, records show.
An appeals court vacated that second conviction, saying that Chicago police detectives again improperly testified about how they identified Ochoa.
Before Ochoa could be tried a third time, his lawyers found a witness who testified that he witnessed Lopez strike Ochoa during the search of his apartment. The judge presiding over Ochoa’s case ruled his confession could not be used as evidence against him during a new trial, records show.
The Cook County State’s Attorney Office dismissed the charges against Ochoa in October 2019, and he was released.
Ochoa was granted a certificate of innocence in 2023, records show.
Wrongful convictions have long been the most expensive kind of police misconduct in Chicago, costing taxpayers $131.5 million in the first six months of 2026, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
