Man guilty of murder for shooting that led to crash that killed Aurora man
A Kane County jury Monday found Chuckie Chatman guilty of first-degree murder for a shooting that led to the death of an Aurora man.
It took the jury less than two hours to decide that Chatman, 32, had fired gunshots at 39-year-old Ernest Hardy's car, causing it to go out of control and crash into a tree. The crash happened around 12:05 a.m. Oct. 17, 2020.
Hardy suffered a broken neck and brain swelling that disrupted oxygen to his brain. He died five days after the crash.
Kane County assistant state's attorneys argued that Chatman was jealous of Hardy, who was seeing the mother of Chatman's two children. He became upset that day after seeing Hardy and some of Hardy's friends with her in a photo.
He then sent her a threatening text message, telling her to not have those men, who he said were gang members, in her home with his children.
Chatman, who lived in Montgomery, came to her apartment; she closed the door on him but later saw him hiding in bushes. She then called her boyfriend Hardy, and the two left the apartment and drove away.
Authorities said Chatman followed them and fired shots at their SUV on the 700 block of Redwood Drive. The bullets struck the headliner of the SUV, the rear bumper, a taillight and the left rear tire.
Besides the murder charge, Chatman was also found guilty of several counts of aggravated discharge of a weapon.
Judge Alice Tracy will sentence Chatman on Oct. 21.