CHICAGO — Four men who committed a string of carjackings and armed robberies across Chicago during two days in September 2022 are heading to federal prison. Damandre Henley, 28, received the lengthiest sentence: 22 years. Davario McDowell, 25, received 18 years, and Tyler Oates-Nelson, 29, got 15 years. The fourth man, Dwight Hasberry, 31, will be sentenced next month.
Federal prosecutors said the men carjacked a 21-year-old concealed-carry holder who had a child in the back seat of his vehicle late on September 28 in the 1400 block of West Erie. Chicago police said the victim was sitting in his black Volkswagen Tiguan when a group of masked men walked up to his car while brandishing firearms.
Henley, Hasberry, and McDowell pointed guns at the man and the infant, who was in a car seat, and ordered them out of the vehicle, prosecutors said. One of them took the licensed firearm owner’s gun from his sweater pocket before the group drove away with the VW.
About 20 minutes later, the group committed two more street robberies in Ravenswood, taking a backpack, phone, wallet, and keys before moving on to the 7-Eleven, 2900 West Montrose, officials said.
Henley, who was paroled a month earlier for two armed robberies, allegedly grabbed the store’s clerk by his shirt and took him to an office where he asked for money. But state prosecutors, who filed charges before the feds took over, said the victim did not speak English well, and he tried to explain that there was no money in the office.
Henley tapped him on the forehead twice with a handgun, then led him to the register, state officials said. The clerk opened the registers as Henley and Hasberry held guns to him. Meanwhile, another member of the crew loaded liquor and cigarettes into the bags and boxes.
Prosecutors said Henley then led the victim back to the office, where he pistol-whipped him, causing him to fall to the floor with a head wound.
In 2018, Oates-Nelson and another man were charged with robbing two 7-Eleven stores in Lincoln Park. At the time, Chicago police said the duo’s getaway car had been taken in an armed carjacking. A cop at the scene when Oates-Nelson was arrested said the vehicle was “filled” with 7-Eleven merchandise. Oates-Nelson pleaded guilty in 2019 and received two concurrent six-year sentences.
