Dec. 11--An Evergreen Park man pled guilty and was sentenced to 11 years in prison this week in the killing of a friend after a 4th of July party in the city's Clearing neighborhood, according to records.
Richard L. Magnan of Evergreen Park pled guilty Monday to being an armed habitual criminal and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the July 5 slaying of Joel Bentley, 30, according to court records. Cook County Criminal Court Judge Matthew Coghlan sentenced him to 11 years in prison, according to court records.
Police said about 1 a.m. July 5, day, Bentley was discovered with a gunshot wound to the abdomen in a Walgreen's parking lot in the 6200 block of South Austin Avenue.
Bentley, of the 5000 block of South Keating Avenue, was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where he was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Magnan and Bentley, both members of the 2-6ers street gang, had been drinking at a party near the Walgreen's and decided to walk over to the parking lot, prosecutors said after Magnan was charged. As they were standing with other friends inside the parking lot, Magnan walked to his truck and grabbed a handgun, said prosecutors.
Magnan then began waving the gun and pointed it at his friends and Bentley, showing them the gun. He then ejected a live round, said prosecutors. Bentley and the rest of Magnan's friends told him to put the gun away, but he continued to wave it around, said court documents. Soon after, the gun went off, fatally wounded Bentley in the abdomen.
Magnan was identified by witnesses as the man who fired the fatal shot, and gave a videotaped confession, admitting he shot Bentley, prosecutors said. Magnan also told investigators that he was a member of the 2-6ers street gang and that he had the gun for protection.
Magnan was sentenced to eight years in prison for a 2003 attempted murder conviction, and was discharged from parole in February of 2013. He also was convicted in 2004 for unlawful use of a firearm by a felon in Nevada, according to court records.
