Deadly Robbery: 2 Men Sentenced After Pleading Guilty In Slaying

EVANSTON, IL — Both men charged with murder in the fatal 2018 shooting of 20-year-old Yakez Semark pleaded guilty to reduced charges and will remain in state prison for at least five more years.

Julius Francellno and Malik Caswell were both 18 when they were arrested and charged with killing Semark, a 2015 Evanston Township High School graduate, during what authorities described as a botched marijuana robbery.

After arranging to meet Caswell through social media and smoking weed with him in an alley off the 1800 block of Hovland Court, prosecutors said.

Semark gave Francellno some cannabis but Francellno never paid, according to reports from the time.

Prosecutors said when Semark confronted Francellno over the theft, Francellno shot and killed him.

Semark was born in Michigan, moved to Chicago at the age of 3 and lived in Evanston since the second grade, where he was "known for his creativity, critical thought, kindness, and commitment to helping others," according to an obituary.

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Francellno was first to admit to the killing. He eventually pleaded to charges of second-degree murder and unlawful vehicular invasion, and prosecutors agreed to drop dozens of other charges.

"Francellno believe the circumstances to be such that, if they exited, would justify or encourage the killing, to wit, use of force intended to cause death," according to the amended version of the charge. "But his belief was unreasonable."

Francellno, who attended Niles North High School at the time of the homicide, was sentenced to 19 years for the second-degree murder charge and four more for the vehicular invasion, to be served consecutively.

According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, he is projected to be paroled in June 2029 and his sentenced will be discharged two years later.

He initially entered his guilty plea in August 2020, but due to an error concerning the amount of time he had already served, a final copy of the mittimus — the judge's writ ordering him to be held in custody — was only filed in December 2021.

Caswell, a former ETHS student, pleaded guilty to armed robbery without a firearm in June 2021 and received a 19-year prison sentence. He is due to be paroled in June 2027, with sentence discharged three years later.

Because of the reduced charges, only 50 percent of that time must be served, rather than 85 percent or 100 percent as is required for certain other convictions.

Related:

• Obituary: Yakez Lee Semark, 20
• 2 Teens Charged With Murder In Evanston Homicide
• Fatal Fight: ETHS Grad Dead In Evanston Shooting