Man Gets 25 Years For Fatal Beating Of Julian High Student
CHICAGO (STMW) - A South Side man pleaded guilty Tuesday to the 2008 fatal beating of a Julian High School student with a baseball bat, a fight that started at a birthday party in Englewood.
Nathaniel Tucker, 27, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of first-degree murder and Cook County Judge Maura Slattery-Boyle sentenced him to 25 years in prison, Cook County State's Attorney's office spokesman Andy Conklin said.
Tucker, of the 1500 block of West 72nd Street, killed Julian High student Albert Vaughn on April 5, 2008, after leaving a 14-year-old's birthday party in the 7000 block of South Throop Street, authorities said.
The group was asked to leave when a female guest complained that someone had pushed her, a neighbor said. The conflict began when Vaughn, 18, confronted Tucker's cousin, who had gotten into an argument with Vaughn's younger brother.
The fight moved into the street and Vaughn and another person "were seen carrying sticks with nails protruding out of the them," prosecutors said. Later, when Vaughn was unarmed, Tucker hit him twice with the bat.
"The defendant swung an aluminum baseball bat very hard against the victim's head. Witnesses heard a crack sound," Assistant State's Attorney Anna Planey said at a 2008 bond hearing.
Tucker had 11 prior adults arrests, including an attempted murder charge. He served three years in prison for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and another year for a drug conviction.
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