A 31-year-old North Aurora man who was convicted of murdering two women in a gang-related shooting will spend the rest of his life in jail.
On Thursday, James Brown Jr., looked on impassively as a Kendall County judge pronounced a life sentence for his conviction on two separate charges of First-Degree Murder. In February, the jury found Brown guilty after just 3 hours of deliberation.
According to prosecutors, at around 11:00am on Veteran’s Day 2020, fourteen shots were fired by Brown into a house in the Boulder Hill subdivision of Oswego Township. Inside the residence were six individuals, two of which, Cassandra and Changina Chatman, were struck by the bullets. Both died from their injuries. They were mother and daughter.
Intelligence gathered on the scene indicated the shooting being a form of gang retaliation. Based on multiple neighborhood cameras, a black Porsche Cayenne was identified and sent out to local departments as the suspect vehicle. That vehicle was found in North Aurora and followed to a residence where multiple people, including Brown, a self-identified Black Disciple street gang member, were taken into custody. The murder weapon used in these crimes was found in the car which Brown claimed was his.
Brown’s alleged accomplice in the murders will go on trial in September.
