A judge sentenced a man to 20 years in jail on Wednesday for an attack that killed a 2-year-old kid and his uncle on Valentine’s Day in 2017, after he testified against an accomplice in a jury trial last month.
Devon Swan, 34, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in October 2023, but he has already completed nearly all of his sentence, which was set at 50% with credit for time served while awaiting trial.
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“At trial, you testified candidly,” Cook County Judge Thomas Byrne stated. “You didn’t avoid any of the answers.”
Lavontay White Jr., 2, was secured in a child safety seat when he and his uncle, Lazarec Collins, 26, were shot and killed by a group aiming for Collins, according to authorities.
According to court records, the attackers attacked him while he was in a car in a West Side alley because they suspected him of involvement in the murder of one of the suspects’ brothers. His 20-year-old pregnant girlfriend sustained injuries.
Swan’s punishment came after a jury earlier this month convicted his co-defendant, Doniel Harris, 27, of murder and attempted murder. In March, a third defendant, Jeremy Ellis, 27, pled guilty to murder and received a 50-year sentence.
Though the plea bargain with the state called for 20 years, Swan’s attorney, Dena Singer, asked the judge to impose an 18-year sentence, noting that her client “has gone above and beyond what the state’s attorney asked.”
Singer claimed that Swan met with prosecutors multiple times and even informed them about a conversation that took place in the Cook County Jail, which helped their case.
Singer also informed the judge that Swan received additional points for pursuing career and educational options.
Byrne, however, refused to shorten the sentence and instead imposed the one outlined in the plea agreement.
“Frankly, that’s what you are expected to do as part of the agreement,” she said”
Collins’ girlfriend filmed the shooting on Facebook Live, capturing video of Collins, Harris, and another person riding in a car near the woman’s home at Ogden and Kostner avenues in the Lawndale neighborhood shortly before 1:30 p.m.
According to authorities, Harris drove up to the victims’ car and started a fight with one of the persons in the back seat. The pregnant woman who was driving exited her vehicle and ran to a home.
Prosecutors alleged that the shooters continued to fire at Collins and his nephew many times. Collins had wounds to the abdomen, back, and legs. Lavontay was shot in the back of the head, with the bullet passing through his cheek, according to authorities.
