Waukegan man pleads guilty to killing Park City cab driver
A Waukegan man accused of killing a Park City cabdriver in 2010 pleaded guilty in Lake County court Tuesday to a single count of first-degree murder, authorities said.
Darryel Garner, 42, now faces a minimum of 45 years in prison after accepting the open-ended plea deal in front of Lake County Judge James K. Booras, said Cynthia Trujillo-Vargas of the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Garner faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, Trujillo-Vargas said.
Garner remains held in Lake County jail, where he has been since being charged in the shooting of Patrick Foster, 45, of Park City.
Authorities said Garner was a passenger in Foster’s cab on a trip to Zion when he shot Foster five times in the face, back and neck.
Despite being shot, Foster jumped into the back seat of the cab and subdued Garner, then called police from his cellphone while holding the man down, authorities said.
Foster was treated at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville after being shot, and was later transferred to Froedert Medical Center in Milwaukee. He died about two months later due to the injuries he suffered in the attack.
After numerous delays, Garner’s trial was set to start Monday. He is now due to be sentenced by Booras on March 25.