A man who in 2010 was convicted of murder and armed robbery — and was sentenced to 30 years in prison in a Danville shooting — will be eligible for release this fall. Thirty-seven year old Davieon Harper was offered – and accepted a new plea agreement Wednesday in which he pleaded guilty to amended charges of armed robbery causing great bodily harm. Part of the deal is that the murder charge against him was dismissed.
The charges stemmed from the October 24, 2009 shooting death of 20-year-old Timothy Shutes Jr. on Danville’s east side. An Assistant Illinois Attorney General said the new plea agreement was being offered because Davieon Harper cooperated with the prosecution in the January trial in which his cousin – Lafayette Harper was found not guilty of first-degree murder in Shutes death.
Circuit Judge Nancy Fahey sentenced Davieon Harper to 141 months in the Illinois Department of Corrections Wednesday, and said he would be required to serve 85-percent of the sentence. But with credit for time already spent in prison, Harper will be eligible to be released in October.
During the hearing Davieon Harper apologized, saying he was sorry that he put his family through this. He also apologized to the Shutes family and the court.
