On a late February evening in 2020, 20-year-old Trevor White, Jr., sought out his ex-girlfriend at her sister’s home carrying a 9mm handgun, apparently with the intent of convincing her to leave with him. He ended up shooting and killing a man she had just recently met, John H. Smith.
White will now face 22 years in prison.
Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie L. Mosser announced this week that White agreed to a sentence of 22 years of imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections in exchange for a guilty plea to the offense of first-degree murder.
Associate Judge David P. Kliment accepted the plea, which occurred as White’s trial on first-degree murder charges was set to begin.
On February 7, 2020, just before midnight, White arrived at the home of his former girlfriend’s sister in the 400 block of Sherman Avenue, Aurora. Present in the apartment were his former girlfriend, her sister, and Smith, 20, who had recently met White’s former girlfriend. White tried and failed to convince his former girlfriend to leave with him. As the former girlfriend and her sister attempted to get White to leave, he fired a single shot from his 9mm handgun at Smith, striking him in the side and killing him.
In accordance with Illinois law, White must serve the full sentence. He receives credit for 1,215 days served in the Kane County jail.
“Trevor White was an emotional 16-year-old when his on-again, off-again 20-year-old girlfriend ended their relationship,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Kelly M. Orland. “He then made several poor choices – to go see her, to get a gun, and to shoot John Smith instead of leaving the apartment. He had no criminal history.”
