43-year prison sentence for jealous ex in car-shooting-crash murder in Aurora
Even though he was not the one who pulled the trigger of the gunshot that caused a fatal crash, Montgomery resident Chuckie Chatman was sentenced to 43 years in prison Friday for the first-degree murder of its driver.
Kane County Judge Alice Tracy sentenced Chatman, 32, to 28 years plus a 15-year add-on because the crime involved a gun. Chatman also was convicted of several counts of aggravated discharge of a weapon.
The victim, Ernest A. Hardy, 39, lived in Aurora.
Chatman was chasing Hardy's vehicle through an Aurora neighborhood Oct. 17, 2020. Earlier in the evening Hardy's girlfriend - who was the mother of two of Chatman's children - had texted a photo of Hardy and several other men at their house. Authorities say Chatman was jealous of that and replied with a threat.
He went to the girlfriend's home, but she refused to talk to him. He hid in the bushes. The girlfriend called Hardy, and the two drove off. Chatman followed them in his vehicle.
On Redwood Drive, four bullets struck the SUV Hardy was driving. A witness testified there were muzzle flashes from the passenger side of Chatman's car.
A bullet flattened a tire, and the SUV skidded sideways, hit a parked car and bounced into a tree.
Hardy suffered a broken neck and bleeding on his brain, dying five days later.
A witness told police they saw two other people get out of Chatman's vehicle after the crash.
Chatman was arrested Nov. 19, 2020. A jury convicted him in August after Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Bill Engerman argued that Chatman "set into motion a chain reaction of events, all at his doing, that resulted in the death of another individual."
Nobody else has been charged in the case.
On Friday, Chatman told Hardy's relatives he was sorry for their loss but maintained "nobody saw me do anything." He also said his family had lost people because of the matter.
His sister and her adult daughter were killed in a drive-by shooting Nov. 11, 2020, by two men wielding AR-15-style rifles. Chatman believes it was retaliation. Two men face trial in Kendall County court.
Kendall County Sheriff Dwight Baird previously said the intended target of the shooting escaped.
One of Hardy's cousins said the small, close-knit family has been devastated. Hardy was an only child, she said.
"I just want you to know that at some point my son's memory is going to take residence in your brain," Hardy's mother, Denise Daniels, said. "I have no mercy and no peace, and that is all I am going to say."
Chatman will have to serve his entire sentence before being eligible for parole. He has been in the Kane County jail since his arrest. His attorney said Chatman plans to appeal his conviction.
Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Bill Engerman asked for 45 years. Defense attorney Vincent Dolak asked for 35.
Tracy said Chatman's five previous felony convictions - three of which involved a gun - showed he doesn't think the law applies to him.