MT VERNON— An East St. Louis man serving more than 50 years after pleading guilty in the 2009 shooting death of his ex-girlfriend and two of her friends recently failed to convince a state appeals court panel of the existence of a bona fide doubt of his fitness when he pled guilty but mentally ill to first degree murder, a court order said.
"The defendant’s 55-year prison sentence for first degree murder was not an abuse of discretion," the three-justice Illinois Fifth District Appellate Court panel said in a 59-page order issued Jan. 9. "The lower court’s sentencing hearing complied with the constitutional safeguards required by the eighth amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois Constitution."
Justice Mark M. Boie wrote the order in which Justice Judy Cates and Justice John B. Barberis concurred.
Milton Lattimore in prison mug shot
| illinois.gov/idoc/Offender
In December 2013, the then 25-year-old Milton Lattimore was sentenced in a St. Clair County Circuit Court to 55 years in prison following his guilty, but mentally ill plea to first-degree murder in the November 2009 killing of his ex-girlfriend, Jaimaca McDaniels, and two others.
Lattimore shot McDaniels, Tenikia Harvey and Raykel Gathing as they sat in a car outside a convenience store in East St. Louis.
Three children ages eight and under in the car, including a Lattimore's son with McDaniels, were not physically harmed in the slayings, according to news reports at the time.
The circuit court initially found Lattimore unfit to stand trial but, after a year, found that he was restored to fitness with special provisions in place to be sure he remained fit during his trial, according to the background portion of the appellate court's order.
"The defendant did not go to trial," the order said. "Instead, he pled guilty. He then filed a motion to withdraw his plea, which the circuit court denied."
Defense and prosecution mental health experts testified that Lattimore has a diminished mental capacity which rendered him unable to understand Miranda rights against self-incrimination, right written at a fourth-grade level.
Lattimore is being held at the Menard Correctional Center in Menard, according to an online inmate search. His projected parole date is Nov. 8, 2064 and his projected discharge date is Nov. 8, 2067.
In his appeal, Lattimore argued that be should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea. Lattimore argued that the circuit court was wrong to find him restored to fitness to stand trail or, in the alternative, that the circuit court failed to follow the special provisions during his plea hearing.
"The defendant also argues that his sentence of 55 years of imprisonment was an abuse of discretion and was unconstitutional under the eighth amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois Constitution," the order said.
The panel did not agree, ruling that circuit court considered factors in mitigation following Lattimore's plea "and exercised its discretion in imposing the sentence," the order said.
It also ruled that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in evaluating the mitigating factors and that Lattimore's sentencing hearing did include procedural safeguards.
"Accordingly, the defendant’s sentence is not unconstitutional under the eighth amendment to the U.S. Constitution or the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois Constitution," the order said.