Man Sentenced To 85 Years For Killing Boy
JOLIET (CBS)-- A southwest suburban man was sentenced Wednesday to 85 years in prison for killing a 14-year-old boy playing video games in a home in Lockport, the Herald-News is reporting.
A Will County jury found Vernon McCormick of Lockport guilty in July of the Jan. 3, 2011, murder of Deonte Lesley. Prosecutors said McCormick, 24, sprayed bullets into the home in the 400 block of Fairmont Avenue, hitting Lesley, 16-year-old Jordan Edwards and 17-year-old Shadon McDonald.
Lesley was shot in the head and died at Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet. The other two teens were wounded.
It took a jury about four hours to convict him on three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated battery and one count of aggravated discharge of a weapon.
Moments after McCormick's conviction in July, Lesley's mother said her son lives on even in death because she agreed to donate her son's eyes, skin, tissue and bones.
On Tuesday, Will County Judge Edward Burmila issued a warrant charging Lesley's brother, Javon Lesley, with the July 9, 2011, murder of Anthony Fearn in Joliet.
Fearn, 18, and friends went to a late-night party at the KO Zone Boxing Club at 218 E. Cass St., but the business closed when Vice Lords and Gangster Disciples began arguing near the entrance.
With a large crowd on the street, witnesses told police men were shouting gang slogans toward the club when one man took out a handgun and started firing blindly. Fleeing around the corner of Arch Court with other bystanders, Fearn was struck twice and made it about 40 feet down the sidewalk before he collapsed and died.
Javon Lesley is an admitted Gangster Disciple who is known as "Guru" on the street, police said. They said he has denied being involved in Fearn's shooting.
He is now serving a one-year prison term at the Jacksonville Correctional Center for unlawful use of a weapon. Police did not know when he will be brought to Joliet on the murder charges.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
