Man Pleads Guilty To 2008 Drug Murder, Gets 25 Years
JOLIET, Ill. (STMW) -- The last of four men charged in the drug-related, 2008 murder of a man in west suburban Naperville was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison for his part in that crime.
Tyrell Jackson, 26, of Villa Park, had faced up to 70 years in prison, until his original conviction on a charge of first-degree murder was overturned by the Illinois Appellate Court.
Jurors had been impaneled Monday in Will County Circuit Court in Joliet to retry Jackson. He instead pleaded guilty Tuesday to an amended charge of murder with the strong probability of killing or injuring, according to court records.
He entered the plea after conferring with his attorneys, court records indicated. The jurors were dismissed Tuesday, with Jackson then sentenced to prison by Judge Richard C. Schoenstedt, who had presided over Jackson's original trial, records showed.
Jackson in August 2010 was convicted of the slaying of John D. Rosales, who was shot to death during a drug-related invasion of his home.
That conviction was reversed in January 2013 by the appellate court. Those justices ruled Schoenstedt should have suppressed statements, including a confession, Jackson made to two Naperville police detectives during an interview about seven hours after Rosales' death.
The appellate court panel members ruled that, as soon as Jackson told the detectives he did not want to talk anymore, they should have ended the interview. They did not do so, and Jackson eventually confessed to having shot Rosales.
Rosales was 23 on April 1, 2008, and hosting a gathering in his townhouse at 2511 Sheehan Drive when he was killed. His guests were playing video games and allegedly drinking and using narcotics.
Jackson's fellow conspiators included Reginald Chandler-Martin, Courtney Mayes and Cherrod Moore. Court records indicated Mayes received three telephone calls, and that after the last call two men, one brandishing a handgun, burst into the townhouse and demanded money, marijuana and cocaine from Rosales.
Police in 2008 said Rosales gave the men some money and started to lie on the floor when one of the intruders shot him in the neck. The robbers, later identified as Jackson and Chandler-Martin, fled in a car.
The mortally-wounded Rosales got into his own car and drove a short distance, to the area of Skylane Drive, where police later found him. It was not known whether Rosales at the time was pursuing the robbers or trying to get to Edward Hospital in Naperville for treatment of his injury.
Chandler-Martin, 27, Mayes, 26, and Moore, 33, all of Aurora, were convicted of murder in the case and sentenced to prison. Appellate court judges later overturned the convictions of Mayes and Moore, declaring police did not have probable cause to detain and later charge them in the killing.
Mayes and Moore later pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated robbery. Both were sentenced to 15 years in prison.
A jury in July 2010 convicted Chandler-Martin of murder in Rosales' death. He was sentenced to 39 years in prison, and his conviction is being appealed.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)