CHICAGO – A Cook County judge has sentenced a man to 43 years in prison for carrying out a mass shooting that killed two people and injured seven near the Magnificent Mile in May 2022. Jaylun Sanders, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of murder on November 18 and received his sentence today from Judge Adrienne Davis.
Sanders, who was on bond for a weapons offense at the time of the shooting, must serve 100% of his prison sentence.
On May 19, 2022 around 9:15 PM, Sanders was part of a clash between two groups near the Chicago Red Line station, 801 North State. Police broke up the confrontation, but not before someone in the crowd fired a shot. Police chased a man they saw running from the scene with a gun in his hand, but he got away.
About 20 minutes after that incident, video cameras recorded Sanders lifting part of his hoodie to cover his lower face and taking a gun from another man, identified as Kameron Abram, 23. Sanders put the gun in his waistband and remained nearby.
Then, around 10:41 p.m., surveillance video showed Sanders walking west from the McDonald’s at 10 East Chicago, with the rival group walking a few feet behind him. Prosecutors say no one in the second group had a gun, reached for a weapon or even had their hands in their pockets.
While standing at the top of the northeast entrance to the CTA station, Sanders allegedly pulled the gun from his waist and fired short bursts from a pistol rigged to generate automatic gunfire, like a machine gun. Prosecutors said he aimed at several people and placed his free hand over the top of his shooting arm to protect it from the powerful recoil of the automatic weapon.
Police later found 21 shell casings at the scene. Two men, 31-year-old Anthony Allen and Antonio Wade, 30, were killed. Seven others were injured.
CTA surveillance video allegedly showed Sanders handing the gun to Abram as they fled into the station after the shooting. Officials said the two men traded sweatshirts, but Sanders ultimately returned to his original hoodie because Abram’s was too small.
When Sanders and his group jumped onto the Red Line tracks to get to the other platform, his girlfriend fell onto the electrified third rail, officials said. She remained in contact with the railing until someone pulled her off, suffering severe burns but surviving.
Police, led by CPD surveillance camera operators, arrested Sanders in the tunnel and Abram was detained on the platform. A police dog found the weapon that Sanders allegedly used in the train tunnel.
Sanders initially admitted to firing the gun, but claimed the other group fired first, prosecutors alleged. When Sanders was confronted with video evidence showing that the victims had no weapons, he allegedly said that they were “reaching for” weapons and that he had to do it.
Prosecutors said Sanders told investigators he got the gun in Indiana and that the aftermarket switch that could generate automatic gunfire is sold on the street for $20 or $25.
Abram pleaded guilty last year to illegal possession of a machine gun. He was given a seven-year prison sentence and, after receiving the state’s standard 50% sentence reduction, went home on parole in July.
