Leodis Blackburn (4/1/2011 – Evanston, Illinois USA)

Killer of cab driver gets 35-year sentence

The man accused in the fatal 2011 shooting of a taxicab driver in Evanston pleaded guilty today and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Evanston police at the shooting scene on May 15, 2011.

Darien Marquez-Connerly was arrested a week after the May 15, 2011, shooting by Evanston police for the murder of cab driver Leodis Blackburn.

Police say Marquez-Connerly had flagged down Blackburn, a driver for Best Taxi Service, at Howard Street and Ridge Avenue. When the cab arrived in the 500 block of Elmwood Avenue, Marquez-Connerly shot Blackburn once in the head during an attempted armed robbery.

Blackburn, 50, of 5930 W. Iowa St. in Chicago, died four days later at St. Francis Hospital.

Evanston Police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan praised the efforts of Evanston detectives and the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force that led to Connerly’s arrest a week after the shooting and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for its efforts in prosecuting the case.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Lauren Edidin accepted the builty plea and imposed the 35 year sentence today in Skokie district court.

– Source: Bill Smith – evanstonnow.com

Tags: Chicago, Chicago lyft, Chicago Lyft driver, Chicago taxi, Chicago taxi driver, Chicago uber, Chicago uber driver, Remembering Our Heroes, RIP, slain taxi drivers, Taxi drivers killed, taxi drivers murdered

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