From the State’s Attorney:
SENTENCED TO 44 YEARS IN THE ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS FOR THE OFFENSE OF ATTEMPT FIRST DEGREE MURDER AFTER BENCH TRIAL
McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese announces that on July 9, 2025, Juan A. Colon, 29, of Waukegan, was sentenced to forty-four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for Attempt First Degree Murder by the Honorable Judge Mark R. Gerhardt.
Judge Gerhardt further sentenced Colon to ten years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for Unlawful Possession of Weapon by Felon, to run concurrent with the sentence imposed on the Attempt First Degree Murder.
The sentences were imposed after a bench trial proceeded before Judge Gerhardt in May of this year.
Truth-in-Sentencing will require Colon to serve 85 percent of his sentence on the Attempt First Degree Murder prior to being released from custody.
Evidence at trial showed that on April 24, 2022, Colon was the passenger of a vehicle that initiated a roadway dispute with the victim by passing the victim’s vehicle and throwing a Pellegrino water bottle at the victim.
Both the driver and Colon got out of the car to confront the victim.
During the dispute, Colon approached the victim’s driver-side window with a loaded .25 caliber semi-automatic firearm while the victim was seated in the driver’s seat.
The victim sprayed pepper spray at Colon, at which point, Colon fired his gun at the victim, hitting the edge of the b-pillar of the driver-side doorframe.
The bullet was incredibly close to striking the victim directly in the head.
Colon fired two more times at the victim before running to his vehicle and fleeing the scene with another individual.
The victim remained on scene to meet with deputies from the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and provide them with his dashcam video, which video captured Colon approaching the victim’s vehicle with the loaded gun in his right hand.
The gun was subsequently buried behind a residence in Island Lake.
Due to Colon’s extensive criminal history, which included multiple felony convictions for violent crimes out of Lake County, Illinois, the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office petitioned for Colon to be detained pretrial pursuant to a discretionary no-bail petition, a mechanism through which defendants could be detained pretrial, without bail, before the Safe-T Act took effect.
The petition was granted by the Honorable Judge Robert Wilbrandt on June 1, 2022.
Colon has been a criminal menace to the citizens of Lake County for over ten years before coming to McHenry County to reside and work with a local drug dealer.
Freese would like to especially thank retired Detective Tim Ives and Officer Daniel Reyes of the Waukegan Police Department for their valuable testimony at the sentencing hearing regarding Colon’s violent and assaultive history.
A special thanks further goes to Sergeant Frank Males and Officer Steve Howard from McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Corrections for their insightful testimony on additional criminal offenses Colon committed while in the custody of the McHenry County Jail during the pendency of this case.
Freese also thanks the victim and local citizens for their cooperation in this matter and willingness to provide key video evidence that led to the identity of this repeat violent offender.
Lastly, Freese would like to thank and congratulate Deputy Keith Sosnowski and the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office for their thorough investigation in this matter.
This case was prosecuted by Chief of Staff Ashley Romito and Assistant State’s Attorney Maria Marek with the assistance of Victim Witness Coordinator Polo Fabian.
