A Chicago man will spend nearly three decades in prison after pleading guilty Monday to the murder of a cab driver who was yanked from his taxi and struck by a passing car during a carjacking on the South Side.
Darnell Ingram, 28, entered the plea in exchange for a 28-year sentence handed down by Cook County Judge Kenneth Wadas. Under state law, he must serve every day of that term before he is eligible for release.
Prosecutors say Ingram and an accomplice came across 45-year-old Don Otis sleeping in the driver’s seat of his cab in the 400 block of East 71st Street in the early morning hours of January 28, 2024. Surveillance video showed the men smashing the driver’s side window as Otis slept inside.
“Get the f*** out,” the men demanded, according to prosecutors, who say they then dragged Otis from his seat and threw him into the street. Otis was almost immediately struck by a passing vehicle, which dragged him for nearly a mile. He was placed on life support and survived for more than a month before succumbing to his injuries.
The two men drove off in the cab, unaware that an in-car camera was recording everything. Chicago police later released still frames from the footage and asked the public for help identifying the suspects. Two people came forward and pointed to Ingram, prosecutors said, leading to his arrest. Nearly a month later, police arrested Shannant Hamilton, accusing him of being Ingram’s accomplice. Hamilton is due back in court on July 6.
Prosecutors say the cab’s camera also showed the hijackers had a pink handgun as they rode in the stolen vehicle. A Chicago Police Department report indicated that gunshots could be heard on the recording as the carjackers traveled in the cab. When Ingram was taken into custody, a pink handgun was found loaded in his jacket pocket, prosecutors said. CPD records indicate the weapon had been reported stolen in Memphis.
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