CHICAGO (AP) – A 35-year prison sentence has been handed a Chicago man convicted in the death of a 49-year-old police dispatcher who was hit by gunfire intended for another person.
Yvonne Nelson had just stepped out of coffee shop near Chicago Police Department headquarters in May 2016 when she was fatally shot by Javion Harris. The 19-year-old Harris was 15 years old at the time, and the intended target was wounded several times but survived.
The sentence handed Harris by Cook County Circuit Judge Maura Slattery Boyle on Thursday was five years shy of the maximum allowed under Illinois law for crimes committed by juveniles.
In asking for leniency, Harris’ attorney, Brandy Brixy, said Harris witnessed abuse and trauma from a young age. Brixy said after his arrest, Harris blossomed at the more stable environment of the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.
