Following a contested sentencing hearing on Jan. 5, Chance Evans, 23, of Stewardson, was sentenced to 26 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the offense of Attempt Murder with a Firearm and a concurrent one-year term for the offense of Aggravated Unlawful Use of Weapons. The Attempt Murder with a Firearm charge is a Truth-in-Sentencing offense that must be served at 85%. Day for day credit does not apply.
On April 12, 2022, Evans was traveling in the passenger seat of his girlfriend’s SUV as she drove to Phillips 66 on Route 32 in Stewardson. There, he encountered an Effingham man with whom he had a long-time dispute with. The Effingham man was driving a 2009 Saturn and was traveling with his girlfriend and two children, ages 6 and 7, to Shelbyville to fish for the afternoon.
Evans’ girlfriend testified that he directed her to follow the victim’s vehicle after the two exchanged hostile words in the parking lot. Evans’ girlfriend followed the vehicle north onto Route 32 and west onto Mode Road.
While traveling on Mode Road, Evans’ girlfriend pulled up alongside the victim’s vehicle and Evans and the victim began yelling at one another. After the victim threw a beverage at the Evans’ vehicle, striking it, Evans retrieved a .38 caliber revolver from the center console of the SUV and fired one round at the victim. The bullet lodged inside of the A-Pillar of the vehicle, shattering part of the windshield and missing the driver by inches.
Evans and his girlfriend then fled the scene. They were apprehended later that night by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office who also located a box of .38 caliber unspent ammunition in their vehicle. The firearm was never recovered.
A young, female Correctional Officer testified that she had been employed by the Shelby County Jail for less than one month when she experienced a hostile encounter with Evans. After she refused Evans’ request to give his shoes to another inmate, Evans became angry. Recorded jail calls were played in court of conversations Evans had shortly after the hostile encounter. During the calls, Evans threatened to break the correctional officer’s neck and glasses and strangle her. Additionally, Evans made multiple profane and derogatory comments towards Sheriff’s deputies and correctional officers and stated “they really need to send me to prison. I will hurt somebody.”
In addition, the girlfriend of the intended target of the shooting presented a tearful victim impact statement, pointing out that her entire family could have been killed if her boyfriend, the driver, was shot while driving at a fairly high rate of speed with the family in the car. She stated to Evans that if he had killed her boyfriend, as he intended, “the kids and I would have never seen another day.” She further stated that she thinks about the incident often and now recognizes how precious life is.
Several friends and family members testified on behalf of Evans at the sentencing hearing. Evans has not previously been convicted of a felony offense.
The case was prosecuted by Shelby County State’s Attorney Nichole Kroncke with Brad Rau, Sr. defending. Judge Amanda Ade-Harlow presided.