An Elgin man will likely live out his life in prison for shooting and killing 20-year-old Devonte Turner as he sat in a car in an apartment complex parking lot 4½ years ago.

William Ingram

Kane County Associate Judge Charles E. Petersen on Friday (Nov. 15, 2019) sentenced 32-year-old William M. Ingram to 55 years’ imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

A Kane County jury on Sept. 11, 2019, found Ingram guilty of the offense of first-degree murder. In addition, the jury found that Ingram personally discharged the gun used to kill Turner.

Kane County prosecutors presented evidence that on April 30, 2015, Turner was seated in the front passenger seat of his friend’s car in a parking lot in the 1200 block of Fleetwood Drive, on Elgin’s west side. The friend was driving.

Ingram snuck up behind the car and fired seven shots from a .40-caliber handgun at Turner through the back window. Two bullets struck Turner, one in the back of the head. Turner’s friend immediately drove off and called for help. Turner died later at a hospital.

Prosecutors believe Ingram mistook Turner for someone else.

The sentence is 30 years for murder, plus a mandatory 25-year enhancement because Ingram personally fired the gun used to kill Turner. Turner presently is serving a 15-year sentence for a 2014 drug offense. He will begin to serve the murder sentence once he has completed the sentence in the drug case.

Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon thanked ASAs Greg Sams and Joseph Gay, and to the Elgin Police for their hard work in the case.

“Mr. Ingram is a known drug dealer, receiving the first of several drug convictions in 2007,” McMahon said. “He was given multiple opportunities to stop his criminal lifestyle, but instead became more violent. Guns and criminals inevitably result in death or prison. With this sentence, Mr. Ingram will have a long time to think about his poor decisions, and the missed opportunities to turn his life around.”

SOURCE: Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office news release