Burbank Gang Member Accused In Fatal 'Soap Sock' Jail Beating

COOK COUNTY, IL — A reputed gang member from Burbank is charged with beating his cell mate to death with a sock stuffed with bar soap at the Cook County Jail. Christian Gonzalez, 24, appeared before Cook County Judge Arthur Wesley Willis on a felony charge of first degree murder at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

During the early morning hours of Feb. 1, correctional officers found Gonzalez’ cell mate, 19-year-old Pedro Ruiz, bruised and beaten in the cell. Ruiz was taken to Mt. Sinai hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Ruiz, a member of the Latin Saints, had been transported to Cook County on Jan. 31 following a bond hearing for a charge of attempted first-degree murder. Gonzalez belonged to Satan’s Disciples, and was also being detained on an attempted first-degree murder charge for shooting a rival Latin Saints gang leader, Cook County prosecutors said.

Correctional officers escorted Ruiz to his cell around 12:30 a.m. Feb. 1 in the maximum security wing at Cook County Jail. Prosecutors said Ruiz was uninjured as he pulled his bedding through the cell door. The only people in the cell were Ruiz and Gonzalez, according to the complaint.

The fatal beating is believed to have happened sometime between 12:54 and 1:53 a.m., when surveillance video showed the lights going on in the men’s cell. As the video zooms in on the cell door window, prosecutors said it was possible to see someone repeatedly raising their arm, as if someone was beating something or someone on the floor. During this time, Gonzalez is believed to have dragged Ruiz by his “shag hair style” violently around the cell. Several minutes later, the person on the video appeared to be tiring.

Around 1:30 a.m., a correctional officer performed a security check through the tier. The correctional officer stopped at Gonzalez and Ruiz’s jail cell. After standing outside the men’s cell door for a moment, Gonzalez told the correctional officer that something was wrong with his cellmate, prosecutors said. The correctional officer did not speak to Ruiz and left the tier.

Moments later, the correctional officer called a sergeant on the radio and reported that Gonzalez was acting strangely. Around 1:53, a number of supervisors arrived at the cell. Prosecutors said Gonzalez had his face pressed against the window of the cell door. Video surveillance shows the cell phone door opening and Gonzalez being led away in handcuffs by correctional officers in a clean jail uniform. Prosecutors said it was later discovered that Gonzalez’s undershirt and boxers appeared to have blood on them.

As officers performed CPR on Ruiz, surveillance video showed Gonzalez in a holding cell with another correctional officer. Prosecutors said Gonzalez admitted to the officer of beating Ruiz with a sock filled with bars of soap. Other detainees claimed they heard Gonzalez making statements about gang affiliation as he beat Ruiz, the complaint said.

Paramedics arrived shortly after 2 a.m. to take Ruiz to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where the 19-year-old man was pronounced dead. The Cook County Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to multiple injuries from a beating and a major neck injury. There was severe hemorrhaging in the membrane where the head and neck meet. The medical examiner said the injury was similar to a pedestrian getting hit by a car, consistent with violently dragging Ruiz around the cell. Massive bruising was also all over the torso and upper body and arms, and on the bottom of the Ruiz’s feet, the medical examiner report said.

Gonzalez also has a pending aggravated battery charge in the Nov. 19, 2019 jailhouse beating of another Cook County Jail detainee. In that case, Gonzalez, who was already in custody, and four inmates allegedly punched and stabbed an inmate. The prosecutor said one of the detainees stabbed the inmate with a shank, while another hit the inmate with a “soap sock.” The beaten detainee was left lying in a pool of blood. Gonzalez and the other detainee returned and threw a joker playing card on the beaten inmate’s body, the complaint said. That incident was captured on surveillance video. The detainee was treated for puncture wounds, a broken nose and other injuries.

Asked why the two rival gang members were placed in the same cell, especially after Gonzalez had been accused less than three months ago for beating another detainee, Cook County Jail officials said “every facet” of last weekend’s killing is being investigated. The sheriff’s office is conducting internal reviews.

Judge Arthur Wesley Willis called Gonzalez “a danger to everybody,” and ordered Gonzalez to be held without bail during a bond hearing on Thursday, the Chicago Tribune reported.

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