Man gets 31-year prison sentence for Darien home invasion

A former Chicago man was sentenced Thursday to 31 years in prison after pleading guilty in April for his role in a 2019 Darien home invasion, prosecutors said.

Joseph Covington, 28, was ordered held without bond in December 2022 and has remained in custody at the DuPage County Jail since that time, according to a DuPage County state’s attorney’s office news release.

On Nov. 26, 2019, Darien police responded to a report of a home invasion at a residence on Belair Drive. Officers met with the female victim, who was home alone from college.

At about 9 a.m., after hearing a knock at the front door, the victim looked out her bedroom window into the backyard and noticed a man wearing an orange utility vest and black ski mask. As the victim turned around in her bedroom, she was confronted by another man, wearing dark clothing and a black ski mask, pointing a black and silver handgun at her, according to the release.

The masked individual forced the victim downstairs at gunpoint, where there were three additional men wearing masks.

According to the news release, the intruders, including one later identified as Covington, demanded to know where money was inside the home.

After repeated phone calls by the victim’s mother to the victim went unanswered, the masked individuals instructed the victim to answer her mother’s call and tell her everything was alright, authorities said.

After that conversation, the victim’s mother contacted a neighbor who went to the residence. When the victim opened the door at the instruction of the intruders, the neighbor pulled the victim out of the residence and called 911, according to the release.

Officers and a K-9 unit arrived at the residence and were able to track the route the intruders took to flee the residence. Police found a .40 caliber black and silver handgun loaded with 13 rounds along a fence line in a neighbor’s yard and various clothing items along the way, according to the release.

A short time later, police responded to a nearby Taco Bell parking lot for an individual who matched the description of the offenders, later identified as Covington. He was arrested at this time.