A Bellwood man has been found guilty of killing a man during a gun sale in a Naperville parking lot in 2021.
On Thursday, a jury convicted Robert Chatman-Jones, 25, of one count of first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Coreon Davis, following a three-day trial, according to a news release from the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.
Struggle ensued during gun sale in parking lot
The incident happened on August 29, 2021, shortly after 2 p.m. Authorities said Naperville police responded to a parking lot on Amersale Drive after receiving a report about gunshots fired. There, they found more than $100 in cash in the parking lot, along with two .40-caliber shell casings.
While on the scene, they got word that Aurora police had found a car with two gunshot victims inside at McCoy Drive and Vaughn Road.
Davis was one of the victims. He’d been shot in the head and in his left hand. The other victim was shot in the left leg. Davis later died after being taken to Loyola Hospital.
An investigation showed that Davis and another person had gone to meet Chatham-Jones at the Amerisale parking lot to sell him a gun. When Chatham-Jones went to the car Davis was in to give him the money for the purchase, Davis told him he hadn’t paid enough.
The two ended up struggling, at which point Chatham-Jones fired a gun, hitting Davis and the other person in the car. Chatham-Jones fled, but was taken into custody the next day at an Aurora apartment complex parking lot.
‘Senseless loss of life’
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin called Davis’ death a “senseless loss of life.”
“The murder of Coreon Davis serves as a stark reminder that guns in the hands of those willing to use violence can result in deadly, irreversible consequences,” Berlin said. “While no number of years can bring Mr. Davis back to those who loved him, it is my hope that yesterday’s guilty verdict will offer some measure of solace to those he left behind.”
Chatham-Jones remains at the DuPage County Jail and will next appear in court on October 26. He faces a sentence of between forty-five years to life in prison for the crime.
Photo courtesy: Handout, DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office
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