CHICAGO – A person convicted of murdering an off-duty Chicago police officer in 2019 was sentenced to 90 years in jail, prosecutors introduced.
Menelik Jackson, 30, was sentenced on Tuesday after his conviction for the March 23, 2019, homicide of Ofc. John Rivera, 23, in line with the Prepare dinner County State’s Legal professional’s Workplace.
The backstory:
Rivera was off-duty and sitting in a automobile with associates in River North when Jackson opened hearth on the automobile, mistakenly believing they had been a special group of individuals.
Prosecutors mentioned Jackson and two different males approached the automobile collectively seeking to retaliate towards a gaggle they’d fought with earlier on the Rock-N-Roll McDonald’s.
Jackson fired into the back and front seat of the automobile a number of instances and fatally wounded Rivera and injured a 23-year-old who was shot within the chest and neck, prosecutors mentioned.
Final October, Jackson was convicted by a jury of first-degree homicide, aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm.
He was the third particular person convicted in Rivera’s homicide. Jovan Battle, 38, who led Jackson to Rivera’s automobile, was convicted of first-degree homicide and sentenced to 65 years in jail. Jaquan Washington pleaded responsible to conspiracy to commit first-degree homicide final December and was sentenced to 13 years in jail.
Chicago Police Ofc. John Rivera
What they’re saying:
Rivera began his profession with the Chicago Police Division two years earlier than his demise.
“Officer John Rivera was a devoted public servant who sought to make our metropolis a safer place, and his mindless demise left a gap in our hearts that may by no means be crammed,” mentioned State’s Legal professional Eileen O’Neil Burke in an announcement. “Right this moment’s sentence delivers lengthy overdue accountability, in addition to a measure of justice for Officer Rivera’s household, associates, and fellow officers.”
