A Chicago man was sentenced on Friday morning to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting his friend while the victim was streaming on Instagram Live.
DeAndre Adams, 25, began streaming on Instagram around 9 a.m. on February 7, 2023, and continued while walking to his mother’s house to do laundry. His friend, Edwin Sims, who was 24 at the time, met him at his mother’s house, and the two walked back to Adams’ apartment as the livestream continued, officials said.
Both men were seen in Adams’ bedroom in the 1600 block of East 78th as Adams continued the feed. Suddenly, the Instagram stream showed Sims firing several shots at Adams from behind, striking him in the back of the head and body, prosecutors alleged.
Officials said the live feed also captured Sims bending over with a gun in his hand to end the Instagram feed after the murder. Surveillance video allegedly showed Sims tossing both of Adams’ phones into a trash can inside Adams’ apartment building before he fled the scene.
Sims allegedly told police that he didn’t kill Adams but admitted to being in Adams’ bedroom wearing the same distinctive sweatshirt as the murderer.
Prosecutors initially charged him with multiple counts of first-degree murder and discharging a firearm during an armed robbery. On Friday, the parties executed a plea agreement in which Sims pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder, and the state dropped all other charges.
Judge Angela Munari-Petrone handed Sims the 20-year sentence. He will receive 773 days of credit for the prison time for days he has spent in jail since being arrested and for participating in the jail’s GED program.
