An Aurora man has been sentenced to 105 years in prison for first-degree murder in connection with the 2024 shooting of his former domestic partner, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office said.
On Jan. 13, 2024, police responded to reports of a crashed vehicle and gunfire near Prairie Street and Woodlawn Avenue in Aurora and found Serhonda Burnett, 46, in the vehicle with gunshot wounds, Kane County prosecutors said.
She was taken to a local hospital, but was pronounced dead a short time later, officials previously said.
Based on witness statements and surveillance video evidence in the area, investigators determined that Travares O. Mitchell, 51, of Aurora, had crashed his car into a tree, exited the driver’s seat and discharged three gunshots through the driver’s side front window, hitting Burnett, and then fleeing on foot, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
Burnett suffered from a total of 10 gunshot wounds, a news release from the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office on Monday said. DNA evidence was collected from the driver’s airbag, and forensic testing provided support that Mitchell had been driving the vehicle at the time of the crash, officials said.
Mitchell at the time was a recent domestic partner of Burnett’s, the State’s Attorney’s Office indicated.
A warrant was obtained for Mitchell’s arrest, and he was arrested in Orlando, Florida, on March 6, 2024, and later transferred to the Kane County jail, Monday’s news release said.
Then, in November, a jury found Mitchell guilty of first-degree murder.
Now, Mitchell is faced with a 105-year sentence in state prison, the news release from the State’s Attorney’s Office said. Mitchell received a sentence of 55 years for the first-degree murder conviction, plus a mandatory add-on of 25 years to life in prison because prosecutors proved that Mitchell personally discharged the firearm, the release said. He also received a consecutive 25 years for the offense of armed habitual criminal.
Mitchell is not eligible for day-for-day sentencing for the first-degree murder offense and must serve the entirety of the 80-year sentence, the State’s Attorney’s Office said. He must serve at least 85% of the 25-year sentence for armed habitual criminal, and the two sentences are to be served consecutively under Illinois law. He receives credit for 731 days served in custody in the Kane County jail.
