By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times
Devante Graham | Cook County sheriff’s office
A Pullman man was sentenced to 25 years in prison Tuesday after admitting he robbed an off-duty Cook County sheriff’s sergeant, who ended up shooting one of his accomplices, Deonta Mackey, during the crime.
Devante Graham, 20, was originally charged with murder based on the theory of accountability for the February 2014 incident outside a Citgo gas station in the 700 block of East 103rd Street.
That charge and others were dropped after Graham pleaded guilty to armed robbery before Judge James Linn on Tuesday, according to court records.
Emmanuel Johnson, now 17, was also charged with the murder of Mackey. He is still awaiting trial.
Mackey, who was armed with a 9 mm semi-automatic gun, was killed when he and the other two tried to rob the off-duty sergeant, prosecutors said.
Graham allegedly threatened the officer’s life, then demanded he turn over all his money and the contents of his pockets.
The officer gave the 16-year-old Mackey money and gum, while Johnson went into the officer’s car and started rummaging through the glove box, court records show.
When Mackey, still pointing the gun at the officer, asked him to turn over his wallet and car keys, the officer reached into his pockets, grabbed his gun and shot Mackey, prosecutors said.
Johnson, who dropped a bag he had taken from the officer’s vehicle, and Graham eventually turned themselves in.
After the shooting, many Chicago Public Schools students told authorities the suspects had posted pictures of themselves with guns on Facebook, prosecutors had said.
Detectives later determined one of the weapons in the pictures was used in the deadly robbery, authorities said.