130 years for fatal shooting of Ralph McNeal, an inncocent bystander killed as suspect fired at wife’s boyfriend

By LUKE WILUSZ
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Lamont Grant | Cook County Sheriff's Dept.

Lamont Grant | Cook County Sheriff’s Dept.


A man who turned himself in for killing Ralph McNeal and seriously injuring another man when he fired a gun toward his estranged wife’s boyfriend near a crowd of people in 2013 has been sentenced to 130 years in prison.

Lamont Grant, 37, was previously convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder for the shooting that killed the 54-year-old McNeal, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

Cook County Judge Thaddeus Wilson handed down the 130-year prison sentence during a hearing Tuesday, the state’s attorney’s office announced.

The shooting happened about 6:15 p.m. Aug. 10, 2013, outside the Dearborn Homes public housing complex in the 2900 block of South State, authorities said.

Grant had gone to the building to confront his wife for having an affair with a 25-year-old man, prosecutors said. He stood on the sidewalk in front of the building, repeatedly calling out to his wife, demanding to see her and arguing with her boyfriend.

Ralph McNeal | photo provided

Ralph McNeal | photo provided

When Grant saw the man exit the building, he went back to his car and got a gun, prosecutors said. He then drove up to the sidewalk and fired shots at the 25-year-old, who was standing near a crowd of people.

Grant then got out of the car, stood over the man and shot him, prosecutors said. The man suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the leg, face, abdomen and arms. He was hospitalized in serious condition after the shooting but has since recovered.

McNeal, who was standing in the crowd when Grant started shooting, suffered a single gunshot wound to the back and was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 7:10 p.m. that day, authorities said. He was not the intended target of the shooting.

Grant went into hiding after the shooting, but eventually turned himself in after confessing to South Side Pastor Corey Brooks three days later, the Chicago Sun-Times reported at the time.

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