Man pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder in shooting of Elgin resident

An Elgin-area man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Tuesday for killing a man after an argument and fight in an Elgin parking lot in 2019.

Meanwhile, his brother pleaded guilty to one count of armed violence for kicking the wounded victim as he lay on the ground.

The brothers - Isaiah Y. Butler and Xavier L. Butler - were facing first-degree murder charges in the death of Joshua Tyler Bey, 24, of Elgin.

Isaiah Butler, 27, believed he was acting in self-defense when he shot Bey, but that belief was unreasonable, Kane County assistant state's attorney Mark Stajdohar said to Judge D.J. Tegeler.

Tegeler sentenced Isaiah Butler to 15 years in prison. He will have to serve at least 50% of his sentence before being eligible for parole and received credit for the approximately 2½ years he has been in the Kane County jail awaiting trial.

Xavier L. Butler, 28, of South Elgin, was sentenced to 30 years on the armed violence charge. He will have to serve at least half the sentence before being eligible for parole and received credit for the 2½ years he has been in jail.

The shooting happened around 10:30 a.m. Aug. 6, 2019, in the 1200 block of Fleetwood Drive. Authorities previously said several people argued and fought.

Stajdohar read a victim impact statement from Latoya Bey, the victim's mother. She said she would try to forgive the Butlers, but "I wish you karma."

Bey's father, Terrence Bey, called the Butler brothers cowards. Bey said he doesn't believe they acted in self-defense because they ran afterward instead of sticking around to explain themselves.

"One day - karma - you will truly pay for murdering my son," Terrence Bey said. He called the sentences "the real crime here."

Tegeler said he knew both the Bey and Butler families from when he had his own law firm. He also said that after hearing what evidence prosecutors and defenders intended to present if the case went to trial, "there was a real possibility they could have been found not guilty (by a jury)."

Tegeler urged the Butler brothers to participate in prison programs to improve themselves, including education.

"You (the Butlers) have an opportunity Mr. Bey did not have," Tegeler said. "You have an opportunity to make something of yourselves. Don't get wrapped up in the gangs. Don't get wrapped up in the nonsense."