Man Sentenced To 13 Years For Robbing Ex-NBA Star
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 28-year-old man was sentenced to 13 years in prison Friday after admitting he broke into the home of former NBA star Antoine Walker and robbed him in 2007.
Last November, Cook County Judge Kenneth Wadas declared a mistrial when a jury could not reach a unanimous verdict in Demorris Hill's case. Cook County prosecutors planned to retry Hill, but on Friday he pleaded guilty to one count of home invasion.
Two other men, Antoine Larkins and Gregory Reedfield, have been sentenced for the July 9, 2007 incident in the River North neighborhood, while a third, Phillip Allison, is awaiting trial.
Hill is also awaiting trial in Bridgeview for a similar robbery at New York Knicks center Eddy Curry's home in Burr Ridge. He also has a pending 2006 armed robbery case in Cicero.
When Walker took the stand against Hill last fall, he testified that he couldn't remember his assailants' faces, but recalled that they had guns.
"I just wanted to follow directions and keep my head down," Walker had said.
Walker testified that he was in his garage sitting in his Cadillac Escalade with $1,500 in cash and a cell phone when three men accosted him.
"They asked me who was in the house, what was upstairs," Walker, 34, said.
The men took Walker's briefcase that had $10,000 to $20,000 inside, as well as 15 to 16 custom-made watches, cuff links and a diamond necklace, Walker said.
Then they forced Walker and an assistant into a closet and restrained them with duct tape before telling them to count to a thousand, Walker said.
One man came back and asked for the keys to his Mercedes CL550. He returned yet again because "he didn't know how to start the car, so he asked me how to start the car," Walker said.
Walker stayed put but explained how the car worked.
(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)
