Guilty Plea In Road-Rage Murder Of Father Of Five

WAUKEGAN, IL — The man who shot and killed a father of five following a fender-bender in Waukegan faces at least 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder last week, authorities said.

Sheldon L. Brown, 34, of Chicago, confessed to the October 2020 killing 38-year-old Dwayne Young in a cold-blooded late-night road-rage incident near the intersection of 8th and Jackson streets, according to police and prosecutors.

After Young's white SUV accidentally rear-ended Brown's maroon sedan, prosecutors said Brown got out and opened fire, striking Young once.

Police said witnesses provided information identifying the vehicle and assisting with the investigation.

Authorities said Brown had never yet Young before the night he killed him.

Young was a Waukegan High School graduate who worked at Naval Station Great Lakes from 2008 to 2017, according to an obituary.

At the time of his murder, Young was preparing to open up a barber shop with his son and had been about to become a grandfather.

"I didn't get to tell him what I was going to name her, nothing, and he won't be able to meet her," his son told WLS at the time, "And it breaks my heart, bro."

The private attorney who had been representing Brown withdrew from the case on March 23. Acting as his own attorney, Brown entered an open-ended guilty plea two days later.

Prosecutors dismissed two of the three counts of murder they had originally filed against Brown in connection with the partially negotiated guilty plea, records show.

Brown's sentencing hearing before Lake County Associate Judge George Strickland is set for April 28.

Due to be sentenced to a term between 45 years and life in prison, Brown has been held at Lake County Jail since his arrest because he has not posted the $300,000 cash portion of his bond.

According to the office of Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart, Brown did not receive a reduction in his sentence in exchange for his plea.

“[Brown], in a fit of road rage, decided to kill Mr. Young. While the family cannot be made whole — they have suffered immeasurably — they are glad Brown will face the consequences of his actions," Rinehart said in a statement. "Our justice system will do everything it can to continue to assist this family and to ensure that this offender never harms anyone again.”

Earlier: Father Of 5 Killed After Waukegan Crash Identified