A Chicago-area man, who previously had his federal life sentence in prison commuted by former President Barack Obama, has been charged with attempted murder.
Alton Mills, of Evergreen Park in Illinois, was arrested in connection to a shooting that happened near the I-57 northbound entrance ramp from 147th Street in Posen, Illinois.
Early Sunday morning, three friends left a nightclub and were driving home in a Ford Explorer. While at a traffic light, the Explorer drove around a vehicle driven by Mills after failing to move when the light turned green, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Kathryn Morrissey.
Mills allegedly caught up to the Explorer down the highway and then fired shots into the SUV.
CWBChicago reported, “A bullet struck a woman sleeping in the Explorer’s back seat in the head, Morrissey said. The Explorer’s front passenger told police that the shooter was an older black man with a salt-and-pepper beard. She also took a blurry picture of the gunman’s license plate and recorded a video in which she read the license plate number out loud.”
The Explorer’s driver reportedly sped to a Chicago Fire Department station, and called the police. The woman who was shot was rushed to the hospital. The Daily Mail reported the woman was brain dead, and not expected to survive.
Illinois State Police reviewed license plate reader data from the area of the shooting, and suspected Mills to be involved in the crime.
Investigators executed search warrants on Mills’ home and vehicle on Monday. They discovered 40-caliber bullets in his bedroom – the same caliber used in the shooting – and his car tested positive for gunshot residue, Morrissey stated.
Morrissey informed Judge Carroll that Mills “made admissions that he did the shooting.” She added that the 54-year-old ex-convict inflicted “great bodily harm and soon death” on the victim.
Mills is charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder. He is being held without bond at the Cook County Jail. He faces his second sentence of life in prison.
In 1994, Mills received a life sentence in prison for trafficking cocaine. The crime was his third felony conviction.
Previously, Democrats lauded Mills as an example of the benefits of criminal justice reform.
In December 2015, Obama commuted Mills’ life sentence, and he was released from prison in early 2016.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) met with Mills in 2016.
“Alton’s story reminds me: It’s not justice when someone who needs help can go away for life for selling crack on the street, but a bank executive who launders hundreds of millions of dollars for drug cartels can pay a fine and sleep in his own bed at night,” Warren wrote in a Facebook post.
In 2018, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) shared Mills’ story on the Senate floor and made him the face of the First Step Act – a prison reform bill to lower recidivism rates.
FLASHBACK: Durbin Speaks About Alton Mills, Man Commuted By Obama Now Charged With Shooting Womanwww.youtube.com
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