CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to eight years for carjacking a woman in downtown Chicago and then speeding away from police at over 100 MPH.
Devonte Ladd, 19, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and aggravated fleeing before Judge Ursula Walowski, according to court records. Walowski sentenced him to a pair of concurrent eight-year sentences.
On June 14, 2022, the victim, a 20-year-old woman, was taking a break in her Chrysler 200 at the intersection of Clark Street and Marble Place when McGee and another man walked past her car, then turned around and approached her driver’s door.
According to prosecutors, the accomplice pulled a gun and ordered the woman out of her car.
“It’s not worth your life,” the gunman allegedly warned the woman, who initially refused to comply. He then pulled her out of the car, took her phone, and climbed behind the wheel as Ladd slid into the passenger seat, according to prosecutors.
A surveillance camera recorded the hijacking, but prosecutors said the quality was not good enough to identify the carjackers.
About four hours later, Illinois State Police troopers intercepted the hijacked car on the Dan Ryan Expressway near 75th Street. They pursued the vehicle at speeds that sometimes exceeded 100 mph until it crashed near 45th and Western, prosecutors said.
Ladd ran from the driver’s seat as Deshun McGee, 20, and an unidentified woman bailed from the passenger side, according to a CPD report. Police found a loaded handgun next to a fence that McGee jumped just moments before cops caught him, prosecutors said.
During an interview with detectives, Ladd allegedly admitted to taking a train downtown, where he bumped into McGee, and they decided to carjack the woman, according to prosecutors. The victim, however, could not identify Ladd and McGee as the hijackers, and prosecutors only charged McGee with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.
Judge Walowski found him guilty in a bench trial and sentenced him to three years. His attorney has moved for a new trial.
Ladd’s sentence will be reduced by 50% for good behavior. His parole date is set for April 28, 2026. Prosecutors dropped 12 felonies in their deal with Ladd, including multiple counts of vehicular hijacking, robbery, and unlawful restraint.