Oakbrook Robbers Brought a Gun. The Victim Used It.
Justin Hill, 28, of Dolton, died on Sept. 30 in the parking lot of Oakbrook Center mall after he and a partner tried to rob a man of $2,000 in cash. DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said Tuesday that the driver who fired the fatal shots acted in justified self-defense and will not face charges. Hill had brought the handgun himself. The driver took it away from him during a struggle and used it against Hill and against Chance Jamerson, 29, who was also shot. Prosecutors say Jamerson planned the robbery. Hill is dead. Jamerson survived with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, and he still faces no murder charge in Hill's death.
Key Details
Prosecutors laid out a sequence that started days before the shooting. According to court testimony and prosecutors, the timeline ran like this:
- Sept. 29: Jamerson went to the mall with one of the eventual victims to buy Swatch watches.
- Watch scheme: The man hired people to buy the watches at $448 apiece so he could resell them. The store limited each customer to one watch.
- The money: Jamerson knew the man would carry $2,000 in cash when they returned the next day.
- The vehicles: Jamerson rode to the mall with the man and two others in a Mercedes-Benz. Hill arrived in a Nissan.
- The setup: Following instructions Jamerson texted him, Hill boxed the Mercedes into a parking spot.
- The gun: Hill opened a rear door and pointed a handgun into the car.
- The fight: The driver and Hill fought over the gun. Jamerson joined in, according to prosecutors, and was shot in the abdomen.
- The shooting: The driver got out of the car and shot Hill.
Authorities said Jamerson was the mastermind. They also confirmed that Hill and Jamerson were both shot, and that Hill was the only one who died.
Background
Armed robbery is a forcible felony in Illinois. For decades, the state's felony murder rule let prosecutors charge anyone involved in a forcible felony with murder when someone died during that crime, including accomplices who never fired a shot. Illinois has since narrowed that approach. Prosecutors in this case say the change means Jamerson cannot be charged with Hill's death, even though Hill died while the two of them were committing an armed robbery together.
The self-defense question follows a different track. Illinois law allows force, including deadly force, when a person reasonably believes it is necessary to stop an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm. Illinois also allows lawful carry under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, which took effect in 2014. The Supreme Court's 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen made clear that the Second Amendment protects carrying a handgun for self-defense outside the home. This case did not turn on carry permits, though. It turned on whether the driver faced an immediate lethal threat, and prosecutors concluded that he did.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
Most gun owners will never face a planned robbery with a shooter in the next car. The lesson here applies anyway. Armed criminals often arrive with a gun pointed at a door, and a legal carry permit does not change that fact. Anyone who carries in Illinois, or in any state with a shall-issue or permitless carry law, should know that a disarmed attacker is the worst moment for a defender. Taking the attacker's gun can end the threat fast, but it also creates a chaotic close-range fight where the defender needs to stay disciplined about the muzzle and the target.
Gun owners should also watch how prosecutors handle the paperwork after a shooting. The driver was not charged because a prosecutor found justification. That finding came after investigators reconstructed the car, the parking spot, and the texts that set the trap. Carriers who face a real shooting should expect the same kind of scrutiny. Keep your account consistent, call a lawyer before you talk at length, and remember that a justified shooting still triggers a full investigation.
DownRange Analysis
This shooting holds up under Bruen. The driver faced an armed man who had already pointed a gun into his car, and the attackers had already shown they would use lethal force. Under any reasonable reading of Illinois self-defense law, the driver had grounds to shoot. Prosecutors reached that conclusion, and the facts support it.
Nobody should walk away from this story admiring the robbery plan. Buying watches at retail to flip them, then carrying $2,000 in cash in a car with people you barely know, invites this outcome. The victim survived because he fought back when it counted. Fighting back is the right call only after you have already lost the first round. Stay out of the bad parking lot, and you never have to find out how the fight goes.
What should a gun owner do right now? Confirm your carry permit and holster setup. Practice disarming drills with a training partner. Read your state's self-defense statute, and know whether your state still allows accomplice charges after a death. Then go to the range this weekend and run it again.
