Chicago man sentenced to 31 years for armed home invasion in DuPage County
DARIEN, Ill. (CBS) — A man was sentenced to over three decades in prison in connection to an armed home invasion in DuPage County in 2019.
The DuPage County State's Attorney's office announced Thursday afternoon that Joseph Covington, formerly of Chicago, was sentenced to 31 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections following his guilty plea to one count of Home Invasion on April 3 of this year.
Prosecutors said on the morning of Nov. 26, 2019, officers from the Darien police officers responded to a residence on Belair Drive for a report of a home invasion. Arriving officers were met with the victim, a female who was home alone from college that morning.
Investigation into the incident indicated that around 9 a.m., the victim heard a knock on the front door before looking out of her bedroom window, facing the backyard, where she spotted a person wearing an orange utility vest and a black ski mask.
She was then confronted by another person wearing dark clothing and a black ski mask, pointing a black and silver handgun at her, according to prosecutors.
The victim was forced downstairs at gunpoint, where there were three other men wearing masks. The men, one later identified as Covington, demanded to know where money was located inside the home.
Further investigation revealed that the victim's mother called her repeatedly without answer. The offenders ordered the victim to answer her mother's call and tell her, "Everything was alright."
Following the conversation, the mother contacted a neighbor who went to the residence, and after the victim opened the door at the instruction of the offenders, the neighbor pulled the victim out of the residence and called 911.
Darien police officers, along with a K-9 Unit, arrived at the scene and tracked the offender's path through backyards they took after fleeing. A .40 caliber black and silver handgun loaded with thirteen rounds was found along a fence line in a neighbor's yard as well as various clothing.
Covington was found a short time later at a nearby Taco Bell parking lot after matching the description of one of the offenders and was placed into custody.
"I cannot begin to imagine the unspeakable terror the victim, who was home alone from college at the time, must have felt when she saw a masked man in her backyard and then was confronted by another armed, masked man in her bedroom," State's Attorney Robert Berlin said.
"Our homes are our sanctuaries, and we all deserve to feel safe and secure at home. Mr. Covington not only stole the comfort and protection a home provides from his victim and her family, but also left an entire community on edge, concerned about their own wellbeing. The sentence imposed against Mr. Covington sends the message that in DuPage County, we will not tolerate this type of violent, criminal behavior."
Covington has been held without bond at the DuPage County Jail since Dec. 21, 2022.
