Glendale Heights man found guilty in 2017 shooting death outside a Schaumburg Walgreens
Quentin Tillison's family has waited nearly six years for a verdict in the case of the man accused of fatally shooting him outside a Schaumburg Walgreens.
On Friday, they heard it: Cook County Judge Joel Greenblatt found Oliver Rhone of Glendale Heights guilty of second-degree murder in the August 2017 shooting of the 37-year-old Tillison. Rhone, who argued he acted in self-defense, had been charged with first-degree murder.
Announcing his finding, Greenblatt referenced two prior incidents where Rhone stated Tillison threatened him.
"I am left to ponder the question: What was Mr. Rhone's state of mind as he encountered Quentin Tillison that fateful afternoon?" Greenblatt said, adding he found "the defendant was acting in self-defense, but his belief was unreasonable."
Defense attorney Donna Rotunno said her client was relieved by the second-degree murder finding.
"We asked the state's attorney's office for this offer," she said. "We would have taken a second-degree murder offer because that's what the facts show. The state refused."
A spokeswoman for Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx declined to comment.
Rhone faces four to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced, which could take place May 5, when he next appears in court.
Rhone's mother, Lomenia Rhone, expressed sympathy for Tillison's family.
"We're praying for closure and healing for the Tillison family," she said.
According to prosecutors, Tillison exited the Walgreens at the corner of Roselle and Wise roads in Schaumburg at 5:17 p.m. Aug. 14, 2017, and encountered Rhone, who was in his car with his fiancee. Video surveillance shows Tillison leaving the store and walking past Rhone's vehicle. It also shows Rhone outside his vehicle while his fiancee exited his car and ran away.
Rhone and Tillison argued, according to a witness. The argument turned deadly when Rhone pulled out a small-caliber, legally purchased handgun and shot the unarmed Tillison once in the abdomen.
Tillison ran from the parking lot onto Roselle Road, where he fell to the ground. Several witnesses reported hearing Tillison name Rhone as his attacker, authorities said. Tillison died from his injuries the following day.
Testifying in his own defense, Rhone said Tillison threatened him - once in July 2016 at a West Chicago nightspot where he said Tillison and stabbed him in the neck with a sharp object and a second time in October of that year at a Schaumburg restaurant where Rhone said a knife-wielding Tillison approached him and his fiancee. In both cases, Rhone declined to file a police report because he feared retaliation.
During their interaction outside the store, Rhone testified Tillison stretched his arm behind his back. He said he believed Tillison was reaching for a gun.
Prosecutors called Rhone's self-defense claims unreasonable during closing arguments. They said he had no reason to defend himself against an unarmed man, arguing he could have driven away or called police. Instead, Rhone "provoked an interaction." Moreover, after the shooting, Rhone drove to a friend's home in Hanover Park, left his car there, was picked up by his mother and then dropped off at a Carol Stream hotel. He turned himself in to Schaumburg police two days later.
"All his actions showed consciousness of guilt," Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Ashley Behncke said during closing arguments. "This wasn't self-defense. This was murder, plain and simple."
Rotunno disagreed. She said Tillison was a dangerous man who confronted her client in public places in a violent way.
Referring to witnesses who heard yelling between the two men, Rotunno said Tillison threatened her client again, forcing Rhone to make a decision that "would either cost him his life or save it."
"This is not first-degree murder," she said. "This was a decision because of an imminent threat."