Ex-Con Guilty of 2011 Joliet Murder

An ex-convict on trial for gunning down a teen nearly four years ago was found guilty Friday.

Jevon “Guru” Lesley faces 45 years to life in prison when he is sentenced by Circuit Judge Sarah Jones in September.

Lesley, 22, killed Anthony Fearn, 18, outside the KO Zone Boxing Club on Cass Street in July 2011. Lesley pulled out a gun and fired wildly during a gang melee that had erupted outside the club. Witnesses testified he pulled the trigger at least five times.

“Fearn, an innocent bystander who had no connection to any street gang, attended a party at the club earlier in the evening with a friend,” according to a statement released by Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s office. “A bullet struck Fearn in the left arm and lodged in his chest, nicking both his lung and his trachea. He was shot inside a minivan that he had climbed inside to flee from the gunfire.”

Fearn was a Joliet West student who worked part time at Kohl’s and as an instructor at SUDA Mixed Martial Arts Academy.

“This was a vicious attack by a violent gangbanger who demonstrated a ruthless disregard for the sanctity of human life,” Glasgow said. “Jevon Lesley gunned down an innocent young man in cold blood outside that boxing club. This conviction takes a callous killer off our streets.”

Lesley was 18 at the time of the killing. He was charged with Fearn’s murder the following September. He was in prison at the time for unrelated crimes.

Lesley’s younger brother, 14-year-old Deont’e Lesley, was shot to death in January 2011. Deont’e Lesley was playing video games at home when the house was shot up by 27-year-old Vernon McCormick. Two other youths were wounded in the gun attack.

McCormick was out to avenge the slaying of a friend when he sprayed the Lesleys’ house with bullets. Deont’e Lesley, a junior high school student, was not involved in the earlier murder or McCormick’s gang feud.

McCormick was sentenced to 85 years in prison.