Garcia-Berrios yelled, "Merry Christmas, (expletive)," before he and Leal ambushed Rodriguez and left him dying on the "cold, cold street," Lake County Supervisory Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Jatkiewicz said.

Leal also shot and wounded a 39-year-old man, who happened to be outside a nearby home just before the attack on Rodriguez.

A witness told police Rodriguez was “greenlighted” for murder by the Dark Side Two Six street gang because he messed up a “lick,” or robbery.

Garcia-Berrios was a member of the Two Six, while Leal was a member of the Imperial Gangsters street gang, records say.

Rodriguez suffered blunt force injuries and eight gunshot wounds to the head and body.

The man who helped lure Rodriguez outside eventually became a police informant, after he accidentally shot himself in the leg.

Robert Varga, Garcia-Berrios' defense attorney, said in opening statements the man gave police a statement that "fit" to avoid prosecution for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Police developed another confidential source after late East Chicago Police Officer Korey Dumas recovered a 9 mm Smith & Wesson pistol during a traffic stop in February 2016.

The man, who also was a felon, told investigators Leal had given him the gun after telling him it had been used in a murder. Two spent bullets found under Rodriguez's body were determined to have been fired from that gun, records say.

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