A 19-year-old Chicago man who carjacked and robbed two people at gunpoint while already on electronic monitoring for pending robbery cases has been given a seven-year sentence.
Prosecutors said Keshawn Stephenson was still a juvenile when he joined another man in confronting a couple outside their home in the 2400 block of West Polk Street around 8 p.m. on December 6, 2023. The men pointed a gun at the victims, a 30-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, and forced them to hand over valuables, including the woman’s purse. Inside the purse were keys to her 2012 Hyundai Elantra, which the carjackers drove away.
Two days later, CPD’s carjacking unit spotted the Hyundai exiting the Eisenhower Expressway at Kedzie. Cook County sheriff’s deputies found it soon after near Homan and Harrison, where they saw Stephenson tugging at the passenger-side door handle.
When deputies moved in, Stephenson, wearing a ski mask, dropped the car’s keys, according to Chicago police reports. Investigators said CPD surveillance cameras had already captured him parking the vehicle and climbing out of the passenger side. Prosecutors also said video evidence placed him near the couple’s home before the armed robbery and captured the crime itself.
Court records show Stephenson has resolved the case by pleading guilty to aggravated robbery. Judge Pamela Stratigakis handed him a seven-year sentence, which will be cut in half under Illinois law for good behavior. He also accumulated nearly three years of credit while in jail, meaning he is expected to walk free on March 10.
When the carjacking occurred, Stephenson was on electronic monitoring for two robbery cases that were pending in juvenile court. The outcomes of the juvenile matters are sealed from public review.
