A 66-year-old man, Charles Anderson, has been handed down a decisive penalty for a violent episode that smote the City’s Fairground neighborhood in 2021. In a ruling on Friday, the court sentenced Anderson to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, bolstered by an extra 127 years to be served consecutively, according to the Circuit Attorney’s Office. His actions on September 17, 2021, culminated in the death of two women, while a third was severely injured but survived.
Details of the incident reveal that Anderson forcefully made his way into a vacant house on Kossuth Avenue only to suddenly open fire on the three women present. The victims, Jamie Willard, 30, and Patrice Wimbley, 31, suffered lethal shots to the head and neck and succumbed at the scene. A third victim ingeniously played dead after being shot in both legs and later helped authorities by identifying Anderson as the assailant. With a conviction in May for several charges, including two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault, as well as weapons offenses, the jury’s verdict was clear. Prosecutor Gabe Gore noted in a statement obtained by the Circuit Attorney’s Office, “Charles Anderson made a deliberate choice to carry out a brutal attack that devastated three families.”
Tangible evidence such as eyewitness accounts, ballistic analysis, phone records, and text messages were compelling during the trial, all tying Anderson to the harrowing event and particularly to one of the victims. Anderson, who has previous felony convictions, was arrested two weeks subsequent to the attack. His sentence reflects specific judgements for each crime: life without parole for the murder charges, 30 years each for the assault and the armed criminal action charges, and an additional seven years for the unlawful weapon possession…