A Chicago man has been sentenced to 30 years in jail for murdering his children’s mother while out on bail on weapons charges.
Edward Roscoe, 33, pleaded guilty on Monday to fatally shooting Jessica Johnson, 30, inside her SUV on April 25, 2021, as well as having a handgun in a previous case. Judge Joanne Rosado sentenced him to 27 years for murder and three years for a gun charge.
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Johnson was driving with Roscoe in the passenger seat when the city’s ShotSpotter system alerted officers to rounds fired in the 500 block of East 103rd Street at 10:20 p.m.
Johnson was slumped in the driver’s seat, suffering from several gunshot wounds. There were five shell casings found inside the vehicle. According to authorities, surveillance footage captured Roscoe getting out of the passenger seat and fleeing the scene.
Roscoe returned to Gary, Indiana, where he lived with Johnson and another couple, about an hour later. Prosecutors said he admitted to the couple that he shot Johnson during an argument. Frightened by his manner, the couple packed their children and departed. They later dialed 911 after viewing news reports of the shooting.
According to prosecutors, investigators discovered a black “No F*cks Given” baseball cap in a dumpster near the murder site. Roscoe had shared a photo of himself wearing the same hat on Facebook some hours before.
Roscoe fled to Texas but was apprehended months later and extradited to Chicago.
Roscoe was no stranger to firearms cases. In 2015, he was sentenced to a year in prison for irresponsible firearm discharge. Police in Chicago allegedly discovered a loaded weapon under the driver’s seat of his car during a traffic stop in October 2020. That weapon had been reported stolen in Indiana only ten days prior.
Prosecutors also disclosed a frightening fact: four months before killing Johnson, Roscoe dropped their infant son, killing him. Roscoe’s death was examined by Indiana officials, but no criminal charges were filed.
Roscoe is required by law to complete the full murder sentence as well as half of the three-year sentence.
