Obama fails again but this is just tragic.
According to prosecutors, a man who had his federal life sentence commuted by President Obama in 2015 was involved in a shooting incident on a Chicago expressway earlier this week, resulting in a woman being critically injured and left in a state of brain death.
According to Newsweek, Alton Mills, who is currently 54 years old, was sentenced to life in prison in 1994 for cocaine trafficking. Due to the application of the third strike rule, he received an automatic life sentence based on having two prior felony convictions, despite not having served any prison time for those previous offenses.
Alton Mills was among the 1,927 individuals whose sentences were commuted by President Obama, while another 212 individuals received outright pardons. As a result, President Obama shortened Mills’ life sentence, causing it to expire in April 2016.
According to Assistant State Attorney Kathryn Morrissey, in the early hours of last Sunday morning, Alton Mills allegedly fired shots at a vehicle carrying three individuals who had recently departed a nightclub in the south suburban area of Chicago.
During the bail hearing on Monday, Assistant State Attorney Kathryn Morrissey provided details of the incident, stating that a car approached Alton Mills’ SUV from behind at a red light. When the light turned green, Mills began driving, but the car passed him without honking or causing any disturbance. Allegedly, Mills pursued the car, driving alongside it, and proceeded to fire multiple shots from the driver’s window.
Prosecutors have reported that one of the bullets fired by Alton Mills struck a woman who was sleeping in the back of the targeted car, resulting in a severe head injury that has left her brain dead. According to CWB Chicago, a media outlet focused on covering crime in the city, the woman’s chances of survival are deemed very slim.
Alton Mills received a commutation of his sentence from President Obama, which followed a campaign supported by Senator Nick Durbin. Senator Durbin referred to Mills as an “overlooked casualty” in the broader context of the “war on drugs.”
In the letter notifying Alton Mills of his commuted sentence, President Obama wrote directly to Mills and said, “I believe in your ability to prove the doubters wrong and change your life for the better. So good luck, and Godspeed.”