Aurora man gets 55 years for gang murder

An Aurora man was sentenced Tuesday to 55 years in prison for a gang-related murder he committed when he was 15 years old.

Chavez K. Saulsberry, 20, was convicted in August of two counts of first-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Montrell Fluellen of Aurora, the Kane County State's Attorney's office said.

Saulsberry gunned down Fluellen in front of his home on the 400 block of Plum Street on Nov. 4, 2005. Prosecutors said Saulsberry had approached Fluellen from behind and fired a .45-caliber handgun into the back of his head a few seconds before, but the gun misfired. After a short chase, Fluellen was shot six times in the upper torso.

Saulsberry, who was 15 at the time of murder but was charged as an adult, was arrested after he was recorded describing the shooting and saying it was justified because he believed Fluellen was associated with a rival gang.

Associate Judge T. Jordan Gallagher, who convicted Saulsberry, cited his criminal record dating to the age of 13, and the fact that he was on parole at the time of the murder, in sentencing him to 55 years. The judge also noted that Saulsberry committed subsequent crimes while awaiting trial.

"If you want to be in a gang, to be a big man, then you have to pay the price," Gallagher said.

Saulsberry has no chance of early release, prosecutors said.

"Although this sentence cannot ever bring true closure to Montrell Fluellen's family, we hope it gives them some sense of peace and justice," Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Mark Stajdohar said.