Trial begins in 2015 fatal shooting on Elgin's west side
A case of mistaken identity could have led to a 20-year-old Elgin man being gunned down in April 2015, Kane County prosecutors said Monday during opening statements in the trial of William M. Ingram.
The 32-year-old Ingram, formerly of Elgin, is charged with first-degree murder in the April 30, 2015, shooting of Devonte Turner.
Turner was shot twice - once in the head - while seated in a friend's vehicle in the Buena Vista apartment complex parking lot, otherwise known as "The Mills," on the city's west side.
Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Greg Sams said Ingram sought revenge for a previous shooting that damaged his vehicle.
Turner, who has a twin brother, was running an errand with his friend, Jerwin Suarez, on the 1200 block of Fleetwood Drive, the night of April 30 when Ingram sneaked up behind the vehicle and fired seven shots from a .40-caliber handgun, according to reports. The gun was later found in Ingram's girlfriend's apartment in the Buena Vista complex, Sams said.
"He unloaded that weapon into the back of the car. Two of the bullets hit Devonte Turner," Sams told jurors. "Either way, Devonte did not deserve to have a bullet put in the back of his head."
After the shots were fired, Suarez drove away and called for help in a nearby Wendy's parking lot.
"The moment I am about to drive (forward), that's when the shooting started happening," Suarez testified Monday. "It all happened so fast. I stopped for an instant because I didn't know what was going on."
Ballistics tests tied the gun to spent shell casings recovered from the parking lot, Sams said, and grainy surveillance video from the apartment complex contradicts the story Ingram told police about where he was and what he was doing that night.
Sams noted Ingram had a "FaceTime" conversation with a friend after the shooting in which he declared "I got that (guy)."
Ingram is serving a 15-year prison term after pleading guilty in 2017 to selling cocaine near a church in 2014. His defense team, led by Kane County Assistant Public Defender Britt Hawkins, contends some witnesses are testifying against Ingram to reduce punishments for their own crimes.
Hawkins noted police found no DNA or fingerprints on the gun to tie it to Ingram, and Suarez didn't see who fired the shots.
"You will not hear from any eyewitness's testimony in this case," she told jurors.
If convicted of murder, Ingram faces 60 to 100 years in prison because of his extensive criminal history.