A Skokie man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday for shooting a woman in the face during an early-morning argument in her “nice White neighborhood” on the Northwest Side in November 2023.
Judge James Obbish handed down the sentence to Nathan Frazer, 25, who pleaded guilty to aggravated battery by discharging a firearm. Under Illinois law, Frazer must serve 85% of his sentence before becoming eligible for release.
The shooting occurred around 4 a.m. on November 18, 2023, when Frazer shot a then-20-year-old woman at point-blank range while riding in a car with three other people, according to prosecutors.
Officials said a friend drove Frazer to the victim’s apartment around 2 a.m. to hang out with her and two other people. Frazer and the victim had met only once before. He arrived holding a bottle of alcohol and quickly became agitated when he misplaced his phone, but he became quiet and kept to himself after finding it in the Lexus he came in, prosecutors said. About two hours later, the group all entered the Lexus to give Frazer a ride home, according to a written proffer filed by prosecutors.
Frazer sat behind the driver with two others in the back seat while the victim sat in the passenger seat. He became agitated again, yelling for them to take him home, but the driver assured Frazer they were just waiting for the car to heat up, prosecutors alleged.
As the car started moving, Frazer tried to open the door and get out, yelling that he was going to leave. The situation escalated after the victim yelled at him to stop acting up because he could disturb her neighbors.
After Frazer unsuccessfully lunged toward the victim, she yelled that he would not do anything to her “because this is a nice White neighborhood,” prosecutors said.
“Who isn’t going to do anything, b***h?” Frazer replied, as he pulled a gun from his waistband and shot her in the face, prosecutors said.
The victim bailed out of the moving car to get away, and a woman seated in the back with Frazer got out to help her. Prosecutors said the victim was hospitalized for six days with a left jawbone fracture.
Chicago police tracked down the white Lexus and impounded it after finding specks of blood on the exterior, according to the proffer. More blood and possible evidence were allegedly found inside the car during the execution of a search warrant.
Prosecutors said the man who was driving on the night of the shooting came out as investigators towed the Lexus, telling them he was “just driving and didn’t do anything.” He then asked for a lawyer.
The victim and the woman who got out to help her identified Frazer as the shooter, prosecutors said. He was originally charged with attempted first-degree murder before pleading guilty to the lesser charge.
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