In a case that involved a 29-year-old father who discovered a couple engaged in sexual activity in an Evanston park and was subsequently shot and killed in front of his 7-year-old daughter, the defendant was sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Khiryan Monroe, who was 20 at the time of the July 2022 shooting, pled guilty to second degree murder, and Cook County Circuit Court Judge Lorraine Mary Murphy handed down the 20-year sentence, with credit for 1,171 days, per court records. He has been in custody since the murder.
The events unfolded when Servando Hamros, who was 29 on July 14, 2022, was playing the game Pokemon Go with his 7-year-old daughter in a garden park area near the North Shore Channel Trail, near 2100 McCormick Blvd., Evanston, and came across Monroe and another person, described as his date, who were engaged in sexual activity on a blanket near a walking path, according to prosecutors of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.
Hamros pulled out his cellphone and began recording the pair while making jokes about Monroe, prosecutors said. They also said it was suspected that an armed robbery took place, with Hamros, who was armed, taking two cell phones from Monroe and his date. Monroe and his date fled on foot, leaving food, clothes and their shoes behind, prosecutors said.
The pair left the scene in Monroe’s mother’s SUV, and security video from the defendant’s house showed the defendant and his date arriving there at 9:07 p.m. and exiting the vehicle naked from the waist down.
Additional security camera footage at Monroe’s residence showed him, clothed, “pacing” and “frantic” while speaking to his mother, allegedly telling her, “he had a gun to my chest,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Monroe and his date then returned to the area of the park and parked the vehicle facing southbound in the northbound lane on McCormick Boulevard, which witnesses observed because it blocked the flow of traffic. The defendant exited, located Hamros in the park and fired 17 rounds, prosecutors said, fatally shooting Hamros. Hamros’ daughter was nearby and her cries caught the ear of a person nearby, who had not seen the crime but who alerted authorities.
Evanston police officers responded to shots fired around 9:05 p.m. to find Hamros lying “in the park along the canal,” said officials. Lifesaving efforts were attempted by officers until emergency medical technicians arrived and Hamros was pronounced dead on the scene.
Prosecutors said several witnesses reported seeing a small SUV consistent with Monroe’s stopped against the curb at the park on the wrong side of the road with its headlights on.
Security camera video from the area recorded 17 shots fired, with witnesses reporting that the SUV then drove into oncoming traffic before moving into the southbound lane and driving away.
Prosecutors also said one of Monroe’s cellphones was found in Hamros’ pocket with another alongside his body, and a handgun belonging to Hamros was found in Hamros’ backpack following the shooting, according to prosecutors.
Hamros’ daughter was physically unharmed during the shooting, said Evanston police Cmdr. Ryan Glew earlier.
Prosecutors said Monroe had no previous criminal history and possessed a valid firearm owner’s identification card but no concealed carry license.