The Third District Appellate Court of Illinois has recently upheld a thirty-six-year prison sentence for Emanuel Embry, 25, for his involvement in the armed carjacking of a pregnant woman's car. According to DuPage County State's Attorney's announcement, Embry, a former resident of Chicago, had sought a new sentencing hearing, arguing that the trial court had considered improper factors in aggravation, leading to an excessive sentence.
On December 13, 2019, Embry and an accomplice donned masks and, armed, confronted the expecting mother in her driveway. They forced her from her vehicle and fled the scene. This quick crime spree, which included a second carjacking on the same day, was abruptly curtailed when Embry was arrested in Chicago just days later, on December 17. The details of the crime and subsequent capture, including a harrowing moment when the victim's friend pursued and temporarily reclaimed the stolen vehicle, unfolded with traumatic consequences for the victim and unsettling ripples through her community.
During the May 1, 2023 sentencing hearing, an "open plea of guilty" was entered, and Judge Michael Reidy rendered a forthright forty-year sentence. However, following a motion to reconsider, the sentence was reduced to thirty-six years. DuPage County State’s Attorney Berlin expressed his approval of the Appellate Court’s decision, stating, "The violent carjacking of a young pregnant woman as she sat in her car in her own driveway not only caused obvious emotional damage to the victim but also had a crippling effect on the entire community sowing fear and anxiety." The Appellate Court's agreement with the lower court's decision was grounded in the observation that Embry's sentence fell within the statutory range and was not characterized as manifestly disproportionate to his offense.
Members of the legal community weighed in on the Appellate Court's decision. State’s Attorney Berlin publicly thanked the court for their "thorough analysis" and echoed Judge Reidy's prior characterization of Embry as "a menace to society" that must be removed "from civilized society." The assertive legal handling of the case by Assistant State’s Attorneys Kristin Sullivan, Nick Catizone, Heather Misura, and Lisa Hoffman, who served in the Appeals Division, was also acknowledged by Berlin for their exemplary work in securing the conviction and eventual affirmation of the sentencing. Justice Davenport, accompanied by Justices Holdridge and Anderson, agreed to deliver the judgment of the Appellate Court.
