A South Side man was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without possibility of parole for his involvement in the 1995 murder of two businessmen who were gunned down at an auto sales office during a robbery.
Charles Johnson, 21, of 7251 S. Claremont Ave., appeared before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Kazmierski, who sentenced him to mandatory life imprisonment for fatally shooting Yousef Ali and Khalid Ibrahim at Elegant Auto Sales, 7004 S. Western Ave.
Johnson, the alleged gunman and the eldest of four co-defendants, was convicted of murder and armed robbery in a jury trial, according to prosecutors Tom Rieck and Brian Sexton.
Rieck said Johnson and co-defendant Larod Styles, 18, went into the office of the auto lot they had visited earlier that day and opened fire on the men inside on Dec. 4, 1995.
Two other accomplices allegedly waited in a car, he said.
When Johnson and Styles entered the office, one of three men inside saw the gun and instantly dove to the floor for cover. He survived, but two others in the office were shot.
The robbers grabbed keys and went into the lot and tried to start different cars, Rieck said. They went back into the office to get different keys and found that one of the men who had been injured was saying prayers in Arabic, Rieck said. The gunman ordered him to be quiet and shot him again when he continued praying, Rieck said.
The robbers took two new cars and fled, Rieck said.
The robbers were caught the next day after one of the accused lookouts allegedly bragged to friends at school about the incident, Rieck said.
Styles, also convicted of murder, is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday. The other defendants are awaiting trial.
