By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago SUn-Times Wire
Eric Hamilton | Cook County Sheriff's Dept.
A man has been sentenced to 55 years in prison for fatally shooting Guvonni Johnson, his fiance’s brother, during a fight two years ago in the South Side Washington Park neighborhood.
Eric Hamilton, 48, was found guilty of murder on Sept. 14 after a two-day bench trial before Judge Kevin Sheehan, according to Cook County court records.
On Dec. 8, 2014, Hamilton and his fiance had just returned to their home in the 6100 block of South Wabash Avenue when her brother, the 25-year-old Johnson, asked to use her bus card and an argument began, prosecutors said at Hamilton's bond hearing.
Hamilton thought Johnson disrespected his fiance and got involved in the dispute, prosecutors said. He eventually called 911, but when responding officers learned the dispute was not physical, they “left after taking some information.”
After police left, Hamilton and Johnson continued to argue, and Hamilton’s fiance told the pair to go outside, where the argument escalated into a fight, prosecutors said. Johnson eventually got into his vehicle and drove around the block, but Hamilton followed in a second vehicle.
Guvonni Johnson | Facebook
A maintenance worker saw both men park their vehicles at Wabash, and Hamilton walk towards Johnson’s vehicle, prosecutors said. Hamilton then tried to break the passenger-side window of Johnson’s vehicle.
Johnson got out and started to run away, but Hamilton pulled a handgun and shot him, prosecutors said. When Johnson to fell to the street, Hamilton bent over him and shot him three more times.
Johnson, 25, who lived in the home with his sister, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died the next day, authorities said.
After the shooting, Hamilton ran to the back of his fiance’s home, knocked on the window, told her he was sorry, then ran away, prosecutors said.
Hamilton has three previous misdemeanor convictions, including a 1988 case where he was sentenced to a year of supervision for unlawful use of a weapon, according to court records.
His lawyer claimed that before the fight, Johnson was hitting and kicking Hamilton, who wrestled for the gun inside the home and was acting in self-defense.
Judge Sheehan sentenced Hamilton to 55 years in prison Monday, according to court records. He will receive credit for 733 days served in the Cook County Jail, and will have to serve three years of supervised release.
He was booked into the Stateville Correctional Center to begin serving his sentence Tuesday.