On March 8, 2019, Menelik Jackson was standing in front of Cook County Judge Joseph Claps to address a probation violation.
After pleading guilty to attempted burglary seven months earlier, Jackson was forced to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and follow a curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. However, prosecutors told Judge Joseph Claps that Jackson breached those requirements by allowing his monitoring system’s batteries to run out.
Rather than punish Jackson for breaking his probation, Claps effectively rewarded him by eliminating the electronic monitoring requirement entirely. There was no punishment—only reward.
Jackson broke his probation by obtaining a weapon two weeks later, after being removed from electronic monitoring and out on the streets way past his previous curfew. And he soon used the gun to murder off-duty Chicago Police Officer John Rivera and seriously injure Rivera’s friend in River North.
On Tuesday, five years after Rivera’s untimely death, Judge Michael Clancy sentenced Jackson to 90 years in jail for the crimes. In October, a jury convicted him of murder and other gun-related offenses.
“Officer John Rivera was a dedicated public servant who sought to make our city a safer place, and his senseless death left a hole in our hearts that can never be filled,” Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen Burke said. “Today’s sentence delivers long overdue accountability, as well as a measure of justice for Officer Rivera’s family, friends, and fellow officers.”
Two other individuals involved in the shootings had previously been sentenced: Jaquan Washington received 13 years for conspiracy, and Jovan Battle received 65 years for guiding Jackson to Rivera’s automobile.
The crimes
Around 3:29 a.m. on March 23, 2019, Rivera, his girlfriend, an off-duty probationary police officer, and a fourth person had just entered his parked automobile in the 700 block of North Clark. The gang was on their way home after spending time together at Stout Barrel House, which was less than a block away.
Jackson and Washington were unaware that they had gotten into a confrontation with a group of Hispanic guys at the former Rock and Roll McDonald’s, 600 North Clark, about an hour earlier, according to prosecutors.
The groups parted ways, and Jackson and Washington went to a neighboring hotel where the women they met at a performance that night had reserved a room, according to officials. Both men were still unhappy about what happened in McDonald’s, so they went back outside to search for the men who had fought them.
Outside, Jackson approached Battle and asked him if he had seen a group of Hispanic men in the vicinity, according to prosecutors. Battle led them to Rivera’s parked automobile on the 700 block of North Clark Street.
Jackson allegedly approached Rivera’s driver’s side window and opened fire, killing the 23-year-old off-duty police officer and gravely wounding a guy in the backseat.
There were “no problems, no words were exchanged, no robbery demand, no carjacking demand” prior to the shooting, according to now-retired CPD Deputy Superintendent Anthony Riccio.
When he died, Rivera had only been a police officer for less than two years.
At trial, Jackson admitted to shooting at Rivera’s automobile that morning but claimed he mistook them for McDonald’s employees.
Jackson is required by law to serve the full term of his murder sentence.
