Payday loan clerk shot in robbery. / Image: swanksalot/Flickr/CC BY-SA
Jamie Brock, a clerk for USA Payday Loans in Hanover park, Ill., was shot in the forehead at point blank range during an October robbery. The shooter, Admise Wilson, apologized to her in court Monday. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Shooter had been in twice before
The robbery occurred on Oct. 5, 2010. Wilson, 34, was a regular customer who had been in twice before that day to check on his account. On the second visit, seeing that she was alone in the store, Wilson told Brock, 35, that he needed to check something at his bank and would be back in five minutes. He returned with a .22-calibre handgun, put the muzzle to her forehead, and fired.
”Everything went black,” Brock said. “I fell. I couldn’t see.”
Victim played dead
Wilson took $1,000 in cash and threw a paper shredder at Brock. He then put the gun to the back of her head, but Brock played dead.
“I’m holding my breath and thinking, ‘Please don’t shoot me,’” Brock recounted Monday in the Cook County Circuit Court.
Victim identified the gunman
Wilson fled without firing another shot. Brock then called 911 and identified the gunman. Next she knocked on the wall, trying to get help from the Jimmy Johns sandwich shop next door. Finally, she called her family and told them what had happened.
Wilson was arrested an hour later. Police found the gun still in his possession, as well as $242 in cash. He was taken into custody and later confessed to the shooting. He was charged with several crimes, including attempted first-degree murder.
A remarkable recovery
Brock has made a remarkable recovery, though she regularly sees a neurosurgeon, and has still not returned to work. The incident left a 3-inch scar in her forehead.
Victim confronts her shooter
Brock addressed Wilson in court Monday as she held her husband’s hand. “I don’t know the reason why you did what you did. I have a daughter who just had her eighth-grade graduation,” she said. “I have a son with cerebral palsy. I was the breadwinner in my family. You don’t know at all what you could have caused me that day if I had died.”
Wilson made a tearful apology to Brock in court. “I didn’t mean for it to happen that way. I’m sorry for the pain I caused to you and your family. I’m glad you’re up and moving around.”
Robber sentenced to prison
Wilson was sentenced to 25 years in prison by Judge Thomas Fecarotta Jr. To avoid prosecution for attempted murder, Wilson pleaded guilty to armed robbery and aggravated battery with a firearm. Under the terms of the plea bargain he must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence and three years supervised probation.
Sources
Chicago Tribune: http://triblocal.com/hoffman-estates/2011/06/20/please-dont-shoot-me-woman-recalls-shooting-as-man-pleas-guilty-apologizes/
Daily Herald: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110621/news/706219985/
