Man shot while robbing bakery gets nine years
A Waukegan man who was shot in the chest by a bakery owner he was robbing was sentenced Monday to nine years in prison.
Associate Judge George Bridges said Demitrius Newbill, 30, had significant mental health and substance abuse issues that caused him to temper his sentence.
Newbill entered the Pasteleria Panaderia, 701 E. Yeoman St., about 8:15 p.m. on July 6 and demanded money.
The bakery owner handed over about $100, and told police he believed he saw Newbill reaching for what looked like a handgun in his waistband as he was backing up toward the door. The bakery owner took a .38 caliber revolver from under the counter and fired it three times, striking Newbill once in the chest.
Newbill, who was unarmed, was captured a short distance from the scene after he collapsed from his wound.
Assistant State's Attorney Brett Henne asked for a 15-year prison sentence, arguing Newbill committed robberies for a living. Henne said Newbill was sentenced to five years in prison for a 2003 robbery and was sentenced to seven more years after a 2005 conviction for aggravated robbery.
"He is a robber," Henne said. "Five years did not deter him from this kind of behavior, seven years did not deter him, so give him 15 and we will see if that has any effect."
But Assistant Public Defender LaToya Burton asked for leniency for her client, who could have been sentenced to up to 30 years, because of his long history of drug abuse and mental illness.
"This is not a person who goes out to harm people because of evil intent," Burton said. "The number-one reason he does this is because of drugs."
Bridges said the reports showing Newbill suffers from bipolar disease and has abused a wide array of drugs should be enough to convince Newbill to seek treatment while he is in prison.
The judge also urged Newbill to consider what happened to him during the last robbery.
"You are fortunate to still be with us," Bridges said to Newbill. "So I hope that serves as something of a wake-up call to you."