Aurora Murderer Sentenced To Another 79 Years For 2001 Slaying

AURORA, IL — An Aurora man convicted in 2004 of murdering and sexually assaulting his neighbor has been re-sentenced to another 79 years in prison, the Kane County State's Attorney's office announced.

In October 2001, Joshua R. Minniti, who was 15 years old at the time, entered the house of his neighbor, 57-year-old Irma Braun, and sexually assaulted her before bludgeoning her to death.

At his original trial, Kane County Judge Patricia P. Golden convicted the man of first-degree murder, home invasion and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault. Given the heinous nature of his crime, the state's attorney's office said in a recent news release, the judge also found he was eligible for a life sentence.

Now 36, Minniti has been re-sentenced by Kane County Circuit Judge Donald M. Tegeler Jr. to a double sentence of imprisonment at the Illinois Department of Corrections. Illinois Appellate Court judges cited the U.S. Supreme Court case of Miller v. Alabama and other higher court decisions as precedent for the re-sentencing.

In the opinion, Appellate Court Justice Mary Schostock wrote that a de facto life sentence for juvenile offenders is forbidden, according to the Eighth Amendment, without first considering their special characteristics, including "immaturity, impetuosity and a failure to appreciate risks and consequences."

"This defendant, at his young age, committed brutal and heinous criminal acts," Kane County State's Attorney Jamie L. Mosser said in a statement. "He violently took the life of a woman and altered our community forever. The victim’s family will never be able to recover from their loss. The safest thing for any community is for this defendant to remain behind bars as long as the law allows. My thanks to ASA Joe Cullen, who originally prosecuted the matter and was there for the victim’s family to argue on behalf of justice at the re-sentencing hearing."