Chicago Man Sentenced In 2020 Attempted Downers Grove Carjacking

DOWNERS GROVE, IL – A 22-year-old Chicago man who pleaded guilty in the attempted carjacking of a vehicle from a Downers Grove garage last winter has been sentenced to 12 years in jail, the DuPage County State’s Attorney announced.

Lamourice Shepherd, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted vehicular hijacking on Friday and is one of four people charged in the incident, which took place in February 2020. Two juveniles pleaded guilty last year and are currently serving out sentences in the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice. The other adult charged in the incident, Carlos, Hendricks, 22, Chicago, is in the DuPage County Jail awaiting trial, which is scheduled to begin on June 21, State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a news release.

Shepherd and the other men were involved in the attempted carjacking at 4:15 a.m. on Feb. 6, 2020, when officers arrived in the 7400 block of Webster after receiving calls about shots being fired. Authorities said that a resident of the home was warming up their vehicle when they saw a vehicle sitting in front of their house with the lights off. Authorities said two men got out of the vehicle and started walking up the driveway. Two people came out of the house and confronted the two men. The two men then returned to their car before one of the juveniles in the car pointed a gun out of the window of the car and fired one shot at a female resident of the home, officials said.

The car drove off and was later spotted in Darien, where police officers attempted to pull the car over. Officials said the vehicle then got onto I-55 and led police on a chase before the vehicle got off at Martin Luther King Drive in Chicago and crashed. All four men were arrested and taken into custody and police recovered two handguns from the car, authorities said.

Violent crimes as alleged in this case can shake a community to its core, leaving residents on edge and worried for their personal safety,” Berlin said in a news release after Shepherd was sentenced. “Thankfully, through the outstanding efforts of all the law enforcement agencies involved, three of those involved have admitted their guilt and a fourth man allegedly involved is awaiting trial.”

Shepherd will not be eligible for parole until he has served at least six years of his sentence.