Second man resentenced in drug murder
BY BILL BIRD wbird@stmedianetwork.com January 8, 2013 5:24PM
Cherrod L. Moore
Updated: February 12, 2013 2:07PM
The second of two men who had their convictions overturned in a 2008 narcotics-related murder in Naperville has been resentenced in that case.
Cherrod L. Moore, 32, of Aurora, had been found guilty of first-degree murder in the fatal April 1, 2008 shooting of John D. Rosales, of Naperville’s far southwest side. Moore was convicted in November 2010 in Will County Circuit Court and sentenced to 20 years in prison, as was his cousin, Courtney B. Mayes, 25, also of Aurora.
Illinois Appellate Court panels later ruled Naperville police did not have probable cause to detain and then charge Moore and Mayes in the slaying. That made the verbal and written confessions the men gave police inadmissible as trial evidence.
As he had done in November in Mayes’ case, Judge Richard C. Schoenstedt on Tuesday resentenced Moore on a felony charge of armed robbery, said Charles B. Pelkie, spokesman for State’s Attorney James Glasgow. Schoenstedt cut Moore’s penalty by five years, sentencing him to 15 years in prison.
Rosales, 23, died following a party that began the evening of March 31, 2008 and lasted into the early-morning hours of April 1. It was held in Rosales’ townhouse on the 2500 block of Sheehan Drive, in Naperville’s Windridge neighborhood.
Police in 2008 said Rosales was targeted for robbery because he kept large amounts of cocaine, marijuana and cash in his home.
Moore and Mayes plotted the robbery with Tyrell Jackson, 25, of Villa Park; and Reginald Chandler-Martin, 26, of Aurora.
Police said Jackson and Chandler-Martin hid their faces behind bandanas and were wielding handguns as they charged through Rosales’ unlocked front door around midnight. Chandler-Martin ordered Mayes, Moore and the other party guests to lie on the floor, and when Rosales refused to do so, Jackson shot him in the neck.
Chandler-Martin and Jackson fled from the area in a car. The mortally-wounded Rosales grabbed two pit bull terriers, got into his car and sped away, police said.
Rosales was found dead shortly thereafter on the median near 87th Street and Skylane Drive. It was not known whether he was chasing Jackson and Chandler-Martin or trying to get to Edward Hospital for treatment.
Moore and Mayes initially said to police they were playing video games during the party and not involved in the crime. Both later gave confessions, admitting they had conspired with Chandler-Martin and Jackson to rob Rosales.
Jackson in August 2010 was sentenced to 70 years in prison, after being convicted of first-degree murder. Chandler-Martin was sentenced a month later to 39 years in prison, after being found guilty of first-degree murder and home invasion.
A fifth man, Justin C. Harper, supplied and later hid the .22- and .32-caliber handguns used by Jackson and Chandler-Martin. Harper. 25, of Aurora, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a felony count of aggravated robbery.
