A seven-time convicted felon who killed a comfort retailer employee throughout an tried theft in West Rogers Park three years in the past has been sentenced to life in jail.
Cook dinner County Choose Stanley Sacks handed down the punishment Friday for 56-year-old Sean Dunnavant, who was convicted by a jury in Might of three counts of homicide and one rely of tried armed theft within the October 2022 killing of 66-year-old Salim Khamo.
Prosecutors stated surveillance video confirmed Dunnavant driving his bicycle to J&Okay Meals and Liquors, 6320 North Western Avenue, round 9:53 p.m. on October 17, 2022. Inside, he positioned a handgun on the counter and pointed it towards Khamo, who had not too long ago offered the enterprise to a relative and was getting ready to retire.
As Khamo, a licensed hid carry holder, stepped again and reached for his personal gun, Dunnavant fired a single shot that struck him within the chest, prosecutors stated. Khamo was pronounced lifeless on the scene.
Throughout Dunnavant’s preliminary court docket listening to in 2022, Assistant State’s Legal professional Christopher Nugarus described how investigators recognized him after he dropped his telephone whereas fleeing the shop. The gadget, discovered subsequent to a bicycle with distinctive rust marks and a headlight bearing a visual serial quantity, contained selfies of Dunnavant, photographs of his Social Safety card and Texas truck driving license, and photos of a gun resembling the one used within the theft.
“I didn’t do this! I didn’t do this!” Dunnavant shouted as Nugarus outlined the proof throughout an preliminary court docket listening to. Moments later, he blurted out, “I misplaced my cellphone,” earlier than his protection lawyer urged him to stay silent.
When police arrested Dunnavant, they requested for his telephone quantity. He gave them the variety of the identical gadget recovered on the homicide scene, prosecutors stated.
Dunnavant lived a few block from the shop, based on authorities. Whereas the investigation was underway, Chicago police launched surveillance footage of the gunman shortly after the killing and appealed to the general public for assist figuring out him.
Court docket information present Dunnavant’s felony historical past stretches throughout twenty years. He was convicted of unauthorized use of a car in Texas in 2018 and of three robberies in Kane and DuPage counties in 2008. His different felony convictions embrace possession of stolen motor autos in 2006 and 2008, in addition to aggravated battery with a lethal weapon in 2006.
Dunnavant has two grown kids, served within the Navy throughout the first Gulf Conflict, and had labored eleven years as a truck driver earlier than the homicide, one among his protection attorneys claimed.
