Seven weeks after an Oak Forest teen was shot in the head in Mexico and flown to a Texas hospital for treatment, his mother said he is recovering, but the teen’s life will never be the same after surviving the shooting that killed his father, uncle and cousin in December.
Jason Peña, 14, was in a coma for several weeks after he was shot Dec. 27 on a highway near the town of Las Palmas, authorities in Mexico said.
His father, Vicente Peña Jr., his uncle, Antonio Fernández, and a third man, Jorge Eduardo Vargas Aguirre, were killed in the shooting.
The teen, an eighth grader at Prairie-Hills Junior High School in Markham, was in Mexico to visit relatives and celebrate his birthday with his father, uncle and brother, according to his mother, Ana Cabral. He was shot just two days before turning 14, she said.
While heading to the hospital in Durango, Cabral said Jason’s heart stopped beating, but cardiopulmonary resuscitation brought him back to life.
“I don’t know how he’s making it. He’s just like, super, super strong,” Cabral said.
The attorney general of Durango announced Jan. 6 that Iram Uranga Armendáriz was arrested Jan. 4 in connection with the shooting.
He “agreed to an abbreviated procedure” which resulted in a sentence of 66 years, 7 months, and 9 days in prison, according to the attorney general. He was also ordered to pay a fine of about $25,000 and damages of about $184,000, authorities said.
Uranga Armendáriz arrived at about 9 p.m. on Dec. 27, at a home in the town of Ciénega de San José in Durango with his partner for a family celebration, where Fernández and Peña were also present, authorities said.
After getting out of his car, Uranga Armendáriz spoke to the two men about a $250,000 debt they owed him after giving them an advance on the purchase of a piece of land in the mountains of the nearby Altares community, which he no longer wanted to purchase, authorities said.
Fernández, Peña, Vargas Aguirre, and Peña’s son then followed Uranga Armendáriz and his partner to a highway junction near the town of Las Palmas. About 10 p.m., Fernández got out of their car and began arguing with Uranga Armendáriz, who pulled out a 9mm handgun and shot Fernández several times in the head, authorities said.
Authorities said Uranga Armendáriz then shot Peña multiple times in the head. Vargas Aguirre and Peña’s son tried to run away, but Uranga Armendáriz shot both of them several times. Once they were seriously injured and on the ground, authorities said Uranga Armendáriz shot both of them in the head and fled the scene.
The State Department has issued travel warnings for Durango due to violent crime and gang activity. The western part of Durango, where the shooting took place, is considered so dangerous that U.S. government workers are not allowed to travel there.
Cabral said she doesn’t know the man who was charged and sentenced, and feels left in the dark by authorities in Mexico.
“They haven’t even been able to leave to let us pick up our belongings,” Cabral said. “They still have Jason’s cellphone, his dad’s cellphone, his uncle’s phone. They have the IDs, passports. They have everything. They’re developing daily fees for keeping the truck over there.”
She said every time they call to ask about picking up the items, they are told it’s still under investigation.
Jason’s recovery remains Cabral’s top priority, though she said it has been challenging since he woke up from the coma.
“I feel like sometimes he understands me. I’m like, ‘Hi, it’s mom. We’re gonna do therapy.’ And he kind of smiles,” she said. “But then there are times where, like, I’m talking to him, and it’s like he just looks at me, like he doesn’t know me at all. His eyes are just moving side to side, like he cannot focus his vision.”
Jason underwent surgery in Mexico to remove the bullet shell, followed by more procedures in Texas to address hydrocephalus, or fluid buildup in his brain, she said. He now has a trach and a feeding tube.
Despite progress, including small signs of recovery like opening his eyes, the doctors warned that only 30% of his brain might function due to the extensive damage, Cabral said.
Cabral, who has been by Jason’s side since the shooting, said she feels isolated and exhausted at the Texas hospital and is eager to return home. She said Jason will need extensive physical therapy and counseling as he recovers.
She wants him to be in a familiar environment, surrounded by family.
“I’m just desperate,” she said, “I’m tired of not having nobody here, it’s just me and him here, 24/7 in his room.”
Cabral said Jason still needs a cranial plate to replace a section of his skull on the left side of his head that was removed to treat his injuries.
Jason was accepted into Advocate Children’s Hospital, Cabral said, but issues with insurance have delayed their ability to go home.
Cabral said Jason was going to be added onto his father’s health insurance, but at the time of the shooting, Peña was transitioning to a new job, leaving Jason uninsured until after the first 90 days of his employment.
Cabral has incurred significant medical expenses for Jason’s care, including a $25,000 two-hour medical flight from the Mexican public hospital in Durango to the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, where Jason has been receiving care, she said.
Cabral said she charged the flight to her credit card. If she didn’t, she said Jason would have died.
Left with only $10 in a savings account for Jason created by his father, Cabral said she is struggling to afford the mounting costs.
“I was left with nothing,” she said.
Cabral is raising money on crowdfunding website Spotfund, which had collected $25,595 as of Wednesday afternoon.
Jason is ready to be discharged from the Texas Children’s Hospital, Cabral said, but she is struggling to secure approval for Medicaid to cover his care and the transportation to Advocate Children’s Hospital.
“I’m just hoping that with a lot of therapy, recovery time, everything that can help, he’ll get better and maybe walk one day,” she said. “I just need more time to find out exactly what parts of Jason’s motor skills and everything has been damaged, or will not be able to function again.”
smoilanen@chicagotribune.com
