Joliet Man Learns Sentence For 2020 Veterans Day Shooting That Killed 2

OSWEGO, IL — A Joliet man was sentenced to 35 years in prison in connection with a drive-by shooting that left two people dead on Veterans Day in 2020 in the Boulder Hill neighborhood, the Kendall County State's Attorney's Office said Tuesday.

Jaquarance Handley, 36, admitted to his role in the shooting — chauffeuring the man who fired the gun into a house in Boulder Hill — by entering his guilty plea to first-degree murder before the case was set to go to trial earlier in September, officials said. The man, of the 900 block of Bluebell Circle, is required to serve 100 percent of his sentence, followed by three years of mandatory supervised release.

Cassandra and Changina Chatman died on Nov. 11, 2020, after they were struck by bullets in a shooting that was a form of gang retaliation, Patch reported. At 11 a.m. that Wednesday, fourteen shots were fired into the victims' house. Six people were inside the residence when the mother and her daughter were shot and killed.

Handley's accomplice, James Brown Jr., was sentenced in February to life in prison, without parole, "due to the senseless deaths of both victims," Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis said at the time. A jury convicted him of discharging an AR-15 into the house.

Video evidence depicted Handley picking Brown up from his residence in North Aurora, driving to the Boulder Hill area, and returning to North Aurora after "the heinous acts," prosecutors said.

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Brown, who self-identified as a Black Disciple street gang member, and Handley were both apprehended within hours of the shooting.

"After convicting Brown of the murders, we turned our attention to holding Handley accountable for this senseless act of violence," Weis said in a statement. "My hope is to send a message to those that wish to commit acts of violence — if you do it in Kendall County — you will face justice, and long prison sentences will be your reward. My office will not tolerate this in our neighborhoods."