A woman who appeared in DuPage County court Tuesday morning was allegedly the mastermind of a robbery-gone-wrong, resulting in the deadly shooting at Oakbrook Center mall last month.
Chance Jamerson, 29, of Chicago, was charged with three felony counts of attempted armed robbery on Oct. 5, about a week after the shooting.
On Sept. 30, the mall in west suburban Oak Brook was briefly placed on lockdown after gunshots went off in the parking lot. Police said the shooting began with a five-person meetup in two separate vehicles in the parking lot near the L.L. Bean store. A fight broke out, someone fired shots, and 28-year-old Justin Hill of Dolton was killed.
Prosecutors Tuesday said Jamerson planned the robbery-gone-wrong.
According to prosecutors, the driver of the black Mercedes involved in the incident had agreed to go with Jamerson and two other people to Oakbrook Center mall to purchase four Swatch watches for about $450 each, and had brought $2,000 cash to do so. The watches were limited to one purchase per person, which is why prosecutors say four people were in the car.
Prosecutors said Jamerson was in the car with the robbery victims, texting Hill their whereabouts. Prosecutors say Hill was the only occupant of the other car, a white Nissan Rogue, which pulled up behind the Mercedes and blocked it in.
Prosecutors say Hill got out of his car, went to the rear passenger side of the Mercedes, pulled the door open and pointed a gun at the occupants, saying, “give me all that s***.” According to prosecutors, the driver of the Mercedes jumped out of the car and started to wrestle with Hill over the gun while Jamerson allegedly jumped out of the back seat and tried to help Hill.
Prosecutors say the driver got the gun away from Hill and fired, striking Jamerson and Hill. They say the victims, without Jamerson, then got back in the Mercedes and drove away. They were located by Oakbrook Terrace police a short time later and taken into custody, but eventually released without charges.
Hill was killed in the shooting. Prosecutors said Jamerson was struck by the gunfire, but got back in the Nissan Rogue and drove around the parking lot for a brief time before stopping. She was taken into custody at the scene, given medical attention and taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Police said they found a Springfield 9mm pistol in the Mercedes and shell casings in the parking lot.
Police said their investigation revealed before the incident, Jamerson was texting Hill information including their location and the type of car they were in, instructions to block them in and instructions to take everything, including the phones in the car.
“Messages sent from the defendant’s phone show that she was providing information to Justin Hill. They included her telling Hill what type of car they were in, block them in and to take everything, including the phones in the car,” said DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin.
Prosecutors labeled her as a “clear accomplice” in the attempted armed robbery, pointing to text message evidence and more.
Her defense attorney, Gus Kostopoulos, disputes the allegations and even claimed his client was not involved in the robbery set-up.
“We’re not speculating that text messages exist, but the inference that she was involved in this. This is something where I’m going to go through this in more detail later, but this is something where I believe they drew certain inferences in regards to the text messages,” he said.
Berlin said the would-be robbery victim who fired the shot that struck Jamerson and killed Hill will not face felony charges.
“The investigation determined that the driver of the Mercedes shot Chance Jamerson in the abdomen and shot and killed Justin Hill to prevent the commission of forceable felony,” he said after court.
Kostopoulos disputes the allegations, and even claimed his client was not involved in the robbery set-up.
“From her point of view, she was just there at the mall. She wasn’t intending to engage in any type of crime,” he said.
The judge said he had “legitimate concerns” about the danger Jamerson posed to the victims of this case and the greater community and ordered her to remain detained.
Kostopoulos argued she is a mother of three, including to a newborn, who need her at home, and the judge acknowledged that, but declined his request to put her on electronic monitoring and home confinement.
“She has three children, all very young, she recently had a baby only a few weeks ago. So she’s disappointed in the court’s ruling. She was looking forward to going back to her family, especially her young child,” Kostopoulos said.
Jamerson’s next court date is Oct. 23.
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