Edward Brown Gets One Year In Prison For Test-Firing Gun, Starting Chain Of Events Leading To 2 CPD Officers' Deaths In 2018
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man has been sentenced to one year in prison after test-firing a gun he found – setting off a chain of events that left two Chicago Police officers dead back in 2018.
As CBS 2's Meredith Barack reported, Edward Brown is not facing more time behind bars because of his lack of a criminal record, and because he is not legally responsible for the officers' deaths.
Brown was sentenced Wednesday. Court records show he pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
The sentencing comes more than two years after officers Conrad Gary and Eduardo Marmolejo responded to a ShotSpotter alert near 101st Street and Dauphin Avenue in the Rosemoor neighborhood.
The officers were struck and killed instantly by a South Shore Line train while pursuing Brown, who admitted he had been firing shots near the railroad tracks.
Police said body camera footage showed the officers were distracted by an oncoming train and they never saw the train behind them.
Brown's attorney anticipated the initial charges, which also included reckless discharge of a firearm. Sentences vary depending on criminal history, and this was Brown's first arrest.
CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller explained why Brown is not responsible for the officers' deaths.
"He is responsible for being in possession of a handgun, and not legally possessing that handgun - and unfortunately, what occurred in this case is the ultimate of tragedies, where two police officers lost their lives," Miller said. "But that wasn't foreseeable for him, you know, that the officers got struck by the train."
Miller said this is a typical sentence for first-time offenders, and what 99 percent of other defendants in Brown's position get.
Brown has been out on bond and will get credit for 30 days served.
