Elston Stevenson, 57, of Chicago, pulled out a gun and began firing it into the grave of Murad Talib during the man’s funeral. The incident took place in November 2017, at the Evergreen Cemetery in Evergreen Park.
“You ain’t s***. You got what you deserved,” Stevenson said before firing a single shot and fleeing, reports Fox News. Authorities say as Stevenson fled, he waved the gun at the crowd of mourners. Police caught up to him and took him into custody near the gate of the cemetery.
Talib was gunned down in his driveway in Palos Heights, just two days prior, according to ‘Patch.’ Investigators say they initially considered Stevenson as a suspect in the murder, but ultimately ruled him out, the outlet said.
“When a felon brings a loaded gun to a populated area and uses the gun to threaten and endanger strangers, this conduct will not be tolerated,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Cornelius Vandenberg in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “The mourners were all in the immediate vicinity of the defendant when he produced the loaded weapon and were placed in danger by the defendant’s reckless firing of the weapon into the gravesite.”
Stevenson pleaded guilty to one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon and was sentenced to 15 years on July 1.
