A Chicago man will spend years in prison for carjacking a grandmother at gunpoint while her 6-year-old grandson stood nearby during a shopping trip to a South Side grocery store.
Keshawn Gilmore, 19, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in prison by Judge William Gamboney, according to court records. He will likely be released after serving half of that time, after receiving various sentencing credits.
The case stemmed from a June 8, 2025, carjacking in the Aldi parking lot at 620 West 63rd Street. Prosecutors said a 66-year-old woman took her grandson to the store that afternoon and had just retrieved her purse from the trunk of her black 2024 Buick SUV. As the pair walked toward the entrance, Gilmore allegedly approached them carrying a black handgun.
Prosecutors said Gilmore demanded the woman’s keys and “grappled” with her before driving away in the SUV. Surveillance cameras recorded the entire encounter.
About an hour later, license plate readers detected the stolen vehicle traveling inbound on the Dan Ryan Expressway and Chicago police located the SUV 30 minutes later near 19th Street and Albany Avenue. When officers attempted a traffic stop, Gilmore sped away, running red lights and stop signs, according to prosecutors. The pursuit ended roughly two minutes later when the SUV crashed in the 3200 block of South Kedzie Avenue. A juvenile passenger was ejected from the back seat during the collision, prosecutors said.
Officers apprehended Gilmore nearby. Prosecutors said he was still wearing the same clothing seen in surveillance footage from the Aldi carjacking. Investigators also recovered a Glock handgun from the driver’s floorboard of the SUV, prosecutors alleged. A second handgun was recovered from the passenger-side floorboard.
Under Illinois law, Gilmore will receive day-for-day sentencing credit, meaning his 18-year sentence will be reduced to nine years with good behavior. He will receive an additional 375 days of credit for time served in the Cook County jail while the case was pending.
