Palatine man gets 11 years in beating death
An alcohol-fueled altercation between co-workers last September proved tragic for a former Arizona resident and his Illinois family.
On Monday, a Cook County judge set payment for that tragedy at 11 years in prison.
Forty-three-year-old William Roman died Sept. 30, a week after authorities say David Greer repeatedly struck him in the head following an afternoon of drinking.
On Monday Greer, of the 1100 block of Northwest Hwy. in Palatine, pleaded guilty to Roman's murder. He was sentenced to 11 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after prosecutors amended the charge from first- to second-degree murder, a special Class 1 felony that carries a sentence range of four to 20 years in prison.
"Some mistakes are life-altering," said Cook County Judge Thomas Fecarotta. "This is one of those mistakes."
"But I do believe you are truly sorry," said Fecarotta in response to Greer's apology to Roman's mother, brother and stepfather, who concurred with the sentence.
The confrontation between Greer, 48, and Roman took place about 2 p.m. Sept. 23, in a pickup truck parked outside a Rolling Meadows liquor store, said Assistant State's Attorney Mike Gerber. Roman used some kind of wrestling move on Greer, who responded by slamming his fist and forearm into Roman's head, Gerber said. Roman, a former Naperville resident who had recently returned to Illinois from Arizona, fell unconscious. Greer and another man lifted Roman into the back of the truck and drove around for several hours before finally dropping the still-unconscious man off at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, Gerber said.
Greer later admitted striking Roman, who suffered a subdural hematoma which required surgery to release the pressure on his brain.
Diane Manders, Roman's mother, said she hoped Greer would use his time in prison to consider the devastating effects of alcohol.
"He (Roman) didn't deserve to die the way he died," said a tearful Manders who took time to praise hospital personnel and investigators before leaving the Rolling Meadows courthouse after the sentencing.
"I would like to thank Alexian Brothers and the Rolling Meadows and Elk Grove Village police departments for the compassion they showed our family and for their quickness in solving this case," she said.