ELIZABETH — Eduardo Lago of Newark, who was convicted earlier this year of fatally shooting a woman in Elizabeth in 2010, has been sentenced to 40 years in state prison for the crime, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced this week. Lago will be required to serve more than 38 years of that sentence before becoming eligible for parole, according to the terms set down by state Superior Court Judge Regina Caulfield.
On the morning of Nov. 14, 2010, Lago rang the doorbell of the Erie Street home of Gloria Francisco, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Albert Cernadas Jr., who prosecuted the case. Lago, who had lived at the home for a short time during the months leading up to the shooting, was looking for Francisco’s son that morning, with whom he had recently quarreled regarding gang affiliations. Both Francisco and her sister, 35-year-old Yessinia Feliciano, answered the door to find Lago outside. He pulled out a gun and fired, fatally striking Feliciano in the chest; he later explained to two friends that “one of them had to go,” Cernadas said.
Following a weeklong trial and about five hours of deliberation, a Union County jury in January convicted Lago of murder and two weapons offenses.