CHICAGO — A 21-time convicted felon who got shot by an 80-year-old man he targeted in a home invasion has been given a six-year sentence. But, after having his sentence cut in half for good behavior and receiving other credits, Mansfield Wallace should be out of prison before Christmas, less than 2 years after he committed the crime.
The woman accused of helping Wallace with the January 2023 break-in on the Northwest Side, Tabitha Hemphill, stopped showing up for court in March, according to court records. A warrant is out for her arrest.
Prosecutors said the octogenarian was seated in his recliner, recovering from prostate surgery, when someone knocked on his front door in the 8500 block of West Catherine around 10:30 a.m.
Thinking a neighbor might be checking on him to be sure his recovery was coming along, the man opened the door, only to find Wallace on the other side, according to prosecutors.
Wallace, who was on parole, allegedly forced his way in, pushed the victim to the ground, and physically fought him. The victim, a licensed gun owner, broke free and retrieved a pistol from his bedroom.
As he did, he noticed Hemphill, 33, near a dresser where he kept his money, prosecutors said. The victim fired a shot at Hemphill, grazing her head. He returned to the living room, fought with Wallace again, and fell to the ground as they struggled to control the pistol.
Prosecutors said the gun fired two times during the fight, striking Wallace in the chest. Wallace allegedly took the gun away, stole a watch from the victim’s arm, and fled in a stolen car with Hemphill.
A surveillance video showed her dropping him off at Resurrection Hospital. Chicago police arrested her nearby and recovered the victim’s firearm from under the car’s driver’s seat.
Prosecutors claimed she had cash, the key to the stolen car, and a baggie of heroin in her vagina. At the hospital, police allegedly discovered the victim’s watch in Wallace’s possession.
A hospital treated the victim for a black eye, bruises, lacerations, and other injuries.
In a deal with prosecutors, Wallace, 52, pleaded guilty to home invasion causing injury and received the six-year sentence from Judge Peggy Chiampas. According to IDOC’s website, he is expected to be released on December 13, less than two years after the home invasion occurred.
At the time of the home invasion, he had been on parole for about two months after serving half of four concurrent 40-month sentences he received for shoplifting. He was also on parole for stolen motor vehicle and burglary charges from 2019.
Prosecutors said during his initial court appearance that he had 13 felony convictions, but state records show the home invasion is his 21st felony conviction resulting in prison time since 1989.
