CHICAGO — An 11-time convicted felony was sentenced to 13 years after pleading guilty Wednesday to shooting his girlfriend in downtown Chicago.
Judge Shelley Sutker-Dermer handed the sentence to Keith Longstreet after he pleaded guilty to aggravated battery by discharge of a firearm, according to clerk of court records. Prosecutors dropped 14 additional felonies in Longstreet’s plea deal, including armed habitual criminal and multiple counts of attempted murder.
Prosecutors said Longstreet hosted a barbecue at his apartment in the 300 block of West Illinois on a Saturday evening in May 2021, and the gathering broke up around 1 a.m. Longstreet began insulting and yelling at his girlfriend as the group dispersed on the sidewalk.
At one point, the woman threw water on Longstreet and slapped his face, officials said. Longstreet allegedly punched the woman, grabbed her by the hair, and tossed her to the ground. Another group member broke it up, and Longstreet returned to his apartment building.
A few minutes later, Longstreet returned to the group on the 200 block of West Illinois and pulled a gun from his waistband. He held the weapon to his girlfriend’s face and threatened to kill the woman and others who were with her, prosecutors said during his initial bail hearing.
He began to walk away, then turned around and fired several shots at the group. A bullet hit his girlfriend in the back, pierced her liver, and lodged beneath her heart, prosecutors said. Police found nine shell casings and one live round at the shooting scene.
Longstreet ran back to his apartment building after the shooting, and police found him in the lobby, sweating profusely and out of breath as he waited for an elevator.
In 2021, prosecutors said he was arrested for domestic battery involving the same woman in 2019 while on parole for two narcotics cases. He has been sentenced to prison several other times, including for being a felon in possession of a weapon, aggravated fleeing, felony escape, and operating a criminal drug conspiracy. In November 2020, Longstreet was charged with several felonies after allegedly speeding away from Joliet police investigating a “person wanted” call in Will County.
His anticipated parole date has not been set because he is not yet in Illinois Department of Corrections custody.
