A man with a violent criminal history has been sentenced to remain in prison until after his 100th birthday for the 2005 murder of Michael Moore of Aurora and the attempted murder of Moore’s friend.

Kane County Circuit Judge James C. Hallock on Monday, Dec. 10, 2018, sentenced 29-year-old Chavez K. Saulsberry to 35 years’ imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Chavez K. Saulsberry

A Kane County jury on Dec. 2, 2015, found Saulsberry guilty of the offenses of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

This is Saulsberry’s second conviction and prison sentence for first-degree murder. A judge in 2009 found Saulsberry guilty of first-degree murder in an unrelated case and sentenced him to 55 years in prison.

In the Moore murder, Kane County Assistant State’s Attorneys Mark D. Stajdohar, Kelly M. Orland and Bianca Camargo presented evidence that at 11 a.m. Nov. 28, 2005, Saulsberry was a passenger in a Ford mini-van with several fellow street gang members. The men were hunting for any street gang rivals to kill.

In the intersection of Smith Street and East Galena Boulevard they spotted a white 1995 Oldsmobile 98 that contained 27-year-old Michael Moore and his friend. The van pulled along the left side of the Oldsmobile, and a co-defendant held open the sliding side door of the van while Saulsberry fired a 9mm semiautomatic handgun at the Oldsmobile.

Moore was struck with multiple bullets and killed. The other man in the Oldsmobile was struck with a bullet but survived.

The sentence is 25 years for the murder and 10 years for the attempted murder. According to Illinois law Saulsberry must serve the full murder sentence and at least 85 percent of the attempted murder sentence.

The sentence is to be served consecutive to the 55-year sentence Saulsberry is serving for the Nov. 4, 2005, gang-initiation shooting death of 21-year-old Montrell Fluellen of Aurora.

Saulsberry murdered Fluellen and Moore 24 days apart.

Saulsberry was not eligible for a mandatory life sentence because he was a juvenile when he committed both murders.

Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said Sausberry’s poor decisions cost him his freedom.

“This defendant at a young age chose a life of violence, preferring to threaten a community as a member of a criminal street gang instead of helping to build a community through a productive and positive life, and improve his own life through work and education,” he said.

“My thanks to the members of the Aurora Police Department who investigated these cases and assisted in the trials. My thanks also to our trial team of Assistant State’s Attorneys Mark D. Stajdohar, Kelly M. Orland and Bianca Camargo, who prosecuted this case.”

SOURCE: Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office news release. To follow news releases directly from the SAO, visit the State’s Attorney’s website and Facebook page.