A Chicago man convicted of the “shockingly evil” murder of a suburban school superintendent’s daughter was sentenced Friday to 105 years in prison.
Under ordinary circumstances, Henry Lovett, 19, of 12501 S. Lowe Ave. could have been sentenced to a maximum of 60 years, but the heinous nature of the slaying made him eligible for the extended term, said assistant Cook County State’s Atty. Laura Sullivan.
In passing judgment on Lovett, Associate Judge John A. Wasilewski cited the dictionary definition of heinous as “hateful or shockingly evil, devoid of mercy or compassion, cruel and coldblooded.”
“The facts of this case meet every word used to define heinous,” Wasilewski said. He then sentenced Lovett to 100 years for murder and added 5 years to be served consecutively for aggravated kidnapping.
A Markham courthouse jury on Jan. 10 convicted Lovett of the kidnapping and murder of Kristen Ponquinette, 20, whose body was weighed down with a manhole cover and thrown into the Cal-Sag Channel by gang members on April 17, 1992.
Ponquinette was the daughter of Charles Ponquinette, superintendent of East Aurora School District 131. She had grown up in Aurora but had moved to Chicago’s South Side shortly before her death and had begun hanging out with gang members, according to trial testimony.
According to prosecutors, Ponquinette was beaten with a 14 1/2-pound brick and then dragged to an abandoned bridge near 127th Street and Eggleston Avenue. After binding her with wire to a manhole cover, gang members threw her into the water.
Three more gang members will go on trial in the murder, Sullivan said. Opening statements will be made Monday in the trial of Chezeray Moore, 19, who is eligible for the death penalty.
