A Chicago man faces up to life in prison after pleading guilty to shooting and killing a father of five following a minor car accident in Waukegan.
Sheldon L. Brown, 34, of Chicago, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in October 2020.
Brown on Friday pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder in exchange for his other two counts being dismissed.
The charges stem from a shooting that occurred around 11:50 p.m. October 9, 2020, near 8th Street and Jackson Street in Waukegan.
The Waukegan Police Department said at the time that they responded to a call of shots fired in the area.
Officers arrived and found a male victim, identified as Dwayne Young, 38, of Beach Park, lying in the street with a gunshot wound next to a white SUV.
Paramedics from the Waukegan Fire Department arrived at the scene and transported Young to an area hospital where he died.
Detectives were able to identify Brown as the suspect through witnesses and the community. Brown later confessed to detectives in a videotaped statement, prosecutors said.
Detectives said that the shooting was a result of a road rage incident.
Young accidentally rear-ended Brown’s maroon sedan, police said, adding that the two men did not know each other.
Prosecutors said that Brown exited his car brandishing a handgun and approached Young, who was unarmed and still seated in his car.
Brown fired several times into Young’s car, hitting the victim, who was a father of five kids, prosecutors said.
Officers arrested Brown the next day and found him in possession of a handgun.
“This offender, in a fit of road rage, decided to kill Mr. Young. While the family cannot be made whole – they have suffered immeasurably – they are glad Brown will face the consequences of his actions,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said.
“Our justice system will do everything it can to continue to assist this family and to ensure that this offender never harms anyone again,” Rinehart said.
Rinehart thanked Assistant State’s Attorneys Dan Lenzini and Russell Caskey and victim witness coordinator Jenna Melloy for their work on the case.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for April 28 in front of Lake County Judge George Strickland.
Brown faces a minimum sentence of 45 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The state’s attorney’s office said that Brown received no reduction in his sentencing range in exchange for his guilty plea.
Brown has been held in the Lake County Jail on a $3 million bond since his arrest.