A Chicago man convicted of shooting a victim in the leg in McHenry in 2023 has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, officials said.
Michael D. Harris, 36, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced to ten years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to a single charge of Aggravated Battery with a Firearm, McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi L. Freese said.
The sentence was handed down Tuesday by McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis after Harris entered a negotiated plea of guilty, Freese said.
The McHenry Police Department and McHenry Township Fire Protection District responded around 10:30 a.m. on May 16, 2023, to the Fawn Ridge Apartments in the 1900 block of North Orleans Street for a shooting.
Officers arrived on the scene and found a 35-year-old man who had been shot.
The initial reports said the victim suffered gunshot wounds to both of his legs, but Freese said the man was shot in only one leg.
The injuries were non-life-threatening, police said.
An officer gave first aid to the victim before paramedics arrived on the scene.
The victim was transported by ambulance to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in McHenry, police said. He was then transferred to a LifeNet helicopter, which flew him to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville for treatment.
The McHenry Police Department said an extensive investigation led to Harris as the primary suspect.
Harris was picked up by the Fitchburg Police Department in Wisconsin on a traffic violation. He was extradited to McHenry County days later.
Freese said the victim, Theodore King, told police that he was in a nearby apartment when he got into the altercation with Harris, whom he did not know.
King told officers that the altercation became physical, and Harris shot him in the leg with a handgun, Freese said.
Witnesses who observed the incident told officers that the man who shot King went by the nickname “CJ” and left in a red truck.
Officers were able to obtain the registration for the truck and learned the registered owner was Harris, Freese said.
Officers conducted a photo line-up with the witnesses of the shooting, and the witnesses confirmed that Harris was the man who shot King, Freese said.
Harris was later interviewed by the McHenry Police Department and admitted to the shooting, Freese said.
Freese said Harris is required to serve 85 percent of the prison sentence before being eligible for release.
Upon release, Harris will be placed on Mandatory Supervised Release for a term of three years, Freese said.
“We are grateful for the victim and witnesses who assisted in identifying the shooter and the McHenry Police Department who worked diligently to both identify and apprehend this dangerous individual. The reckless act of shooting a gun at someone during what was nothing more than a verbal argument could have easily cost a man his life.” Freese stated.