Ex-Chicago Police Officer Admits to Fatally Shooting Husband Following Argument Over Her Affair
As reported by WBEZ, as part of her plea deal agreed on Tuesday, Jacqueline Villasenor agreed to a sentence of more than six years.
However, with Illinois' day-for-day sentencing law and credit for the years she spent on electronic monitoring awaiting trial, Jacqueline Villasenor is expected to serve only about seven days in the Illinois Department of Corrections, plus a year of supervised release, according to her attorney.
Villasenor and Her Husband were Arguing Over a Previous Affair She Had and a Struggle Ensued, Leading to Him Getting Shot
On Nov. 2, 2021, Jacqueline Villasenor and her husband, fellow Chicago police officer German Villasenor, were inside their Northwest Side home, arguing over a previous affair she'd had, when she pulled out her gun and threatened to kill herself, according to prosecutors.
While struggling over the weapon, it fired, striking German Villasenor in his chest. Their then-16-year-old son heard the gunshot and went to his parents' bedroom, where he found his father lying on his back and his mother performing CPR, prosecutors said.
Jacqueline was Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter
Jacqueline Villasenor was charged with involuntary manslaughter. She resigned from the Chicago Police Department in December 2022.
"She admitted that what she did was, in fact, a crime," her attorney Tim Grace said Tuesday. "It's a very triable case, but she didn't want to do that. She wanted to accept responsibility. She didn't want to put her family through it."
In statements submitted to the court earlier this year, the couple's son and daughter asked the judge not to sentence their mother to time in prison for what they saw as an unfortunate accident.
"I don't want to lose both my parents," the son wrote in a statement. Two of German Villasenor's siblings also wrote letters in support of Jacqueline Villasenor, asking that the children not suffer any further by having their mother taken away.
"They have given the hardest gift of all. ...They've given forgiveness," Grace, her attorney, said in court Tuesday.
'There is No Punishment Worse Than the Punishment I Give Myself Every Day'
Fighting through tears, Jacqueline Villasenor told Judge Arthur Wesley Willis Tuesday, "There is no punishment worse than the punishment I give myself every day."
"Although the kids love and support me, I still see him in them every day, which makes it hard to know he's not here," Jacqueline Villasenor said before she was taken into custody. "We miss him every day."
German Villasenor's parents, on the other hand, called for Jacqueline Villasenor to be punished, claiming this incident was no accident.
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