Downers Grove man gets 12 years for Walmart shooting
A Downers Grove man was sentenced to 12 years in prison Thursday for shooting another man in 2015 in a Walmart store in Darien.
Bradley I. Morris, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated battery-discharge of a firearm, a Class X felony.
Prosecutors dropped charges of attempted murder.
Police were called around 5:40 p.m. Dec. 3 to the store on 75th Street. They learned two men had argued in the store and then began fighting in the vestibule.
Morris then shot at the man four times, hitting him in the back of his right shoulder.
Morris was arrested Dec. 5 at a bus station in Chicago, trying to board a bus for Florida.
He has been held since then on $3 million bail in the DuPage County jail.
"This morning, Mr. Morris learned that he will pay a heavy price for his decision to open fire at a crowded store during the busiest shopping season of the year," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a written statement.
Morris will be required to serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole, but will receive credit for the time he has been in jail.
Authorities previously said the men knew each other and the shooting may have been a reaction to a previous drug deal gone bad.
A motion filed by his attorney in September argued Morris acted in self-defense or the defense of others.
The motion said prosecutors contended Morris was a drug dealer who had stolen 5 pounds of marijuana from another dealer. That man and the victim sent texts to Morris about how they had guns and were looking for Morris, according to the motion.
The texts also said they planned to shoot Morris and harm the mother of his child, according to the written motion.