Judge rules juvenile charged with armed carjackings to be tried as adult

Judge rules that juvenile charged with multiple crimes in relation to a string of carjackings in Downers Grove and Warrenville to be tried as an adult.

Warrenville - DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin announced today that Judge Brian Jacobs has granted the State’s motion to transfer a juvenile suspected in a string of armed carjackings in Downers Grove and Warrenville from Juvenile Court to adult Court. The juvenile, who is not being named at this time, has been held in custody in the Juvenile Detention Center since his detention hearing on December 19, 2019. The juvenile’s alleged accomplices, Emanuel Embry, 19 (d.o.b. 12/28/1999), of Chicago and Daysean Washington-Davis, 20 (d.o.b. 7/12/2000), also of Chicago, are currently in custody at the DuPage County Jail since their bond hearings the same day at which bond was denied for both men. At the time of their arrest, the juvenile was on probation for robbery, Embry was on probation out of Cook County for Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon and Washington-Davis was out on bond out of Cook County for Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon.

On November 30, 2019, officers with the Downers Grove Police Department responded to a call on Prairie Avenue regarding a carjacking. An investigation into the matter revealed that the victim was sitting in the driver’s seat of her vehicle, which was parked in her garage, and her daughter was in the front passenger seat when a male subject, later identified as the juvenile, allegedly approached the vehicle. It is alleged that the juvenile drove to DuPage County and while wearing a mask, knocked on the window of the vehicle, displayed a handgun and told the victim “give me the car.” It is further alleged that the victim then threw the car keys to the juvenile and that she and her daughter exited the vehicle. It is alleged that the juvenile then entered the vehicle and drove away. It is alleged that when the juvenile drove away, he was followed by another vehicle, allegedly driven by Washington-Davis. Nearly two weeks later, on December 13, at approximately 2:06 p.m., the Warrenville Police Department responded to a call on County Ridge Road regarding a carjacking. It is alleged that as the victim drove, he was being followed by a car allegedly occupied by the juvenile, Washington-Davis and Embry. It is alleged that when the victim arrived at his house, he exited his vehicle and began walking towards his house at which time he was allegedly approached by two masked men, later identified as the juvenile and Embry. It is alleged that both the juvenile and Embry were armed at the time. It is further alleged that the men then demanded the victim’s car key and his wallet and then drove off in the victim’s vehicle. Approximately twenty minutes later, at 2:27 p.m., the Downers Grove Police Department responded to a carjacking that had just occurred on Hawkins Street. It is alleged that he victim, a pregnant female, was sitting in her vehicle in her driveway when she was approached by two individuals, later identified as the juvenile and Embry. It is alleged that the juvenile and Embry wore masks and were armed. It is further alleged that the men ordered the woman out of her vehicle and drove off in her car. It is further alleged that Washington-Davis was the driver of the vehicle that brought the men to the Hawkins Street address. A friend of the victim had observed the alleged carjacking and followed the stolen vehicle. It is alleged that when the stolen vehicle was stopped in traffic, the victim’s friend approached the vehicle at which time the occupants, allegedly the juvenile and Embry, exited the vehicle and fled the scene. It is further alleged that as the victim’s friend moved her vehicle off the roadway, one of the defendant’s entered the victim’s friend’s car and drove away. An investigation conducted by the Downers Grove and Warrenville Police Departments led to Embry, Washington-Davis and the juvenile as suspects in the carjackings. Through the course of their investigation, authorities were able to apprehend the juvenile who was taken into custody on December 13. On December 17, authorities took Washington-Davis into custody from his apartment and several hours later authorities apprehended Embry in Chicago.

“In DuPage County we take violent crimes, such as alleged against these defendants, extremely seriously,” Berlin said. “If found guilty, the juvenile allegedly involved in these crimes is equally culpable as his co-defendants and for justice to be served it is imperative that any penalty he faces reflect the severity of the crime. Simply put, the fact that he was several months shy of his eighteenth birthday should not shield him for a proper measure of justice. I would like to thank Assistant State’s Attorneys Kristin Sullivan and Nick Catizone for their work in ensuring that all those allegedly involved in the random, violent crimes alleged in the complaints are held equally responsible.”

Embry has been charged with two counts of Aggravated Vehicular Hijacking (Class X Felony), one count of Armed Robbery with a Firearm (Class X Felony) and one count of Unlawful Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle (Class 2 Felony). Washington-Davis has been charged with four counts of Aggravated Vehicular Hijacking (Class X Felony), one count of Armed Robbery with a Firearm (Class X Felony), one count of Armed Violence (Class X Felony), two counts of Unlawful Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle (Class 1 and Class 2 Felonies) and two counts of Unlawful Use of a Weapon (Class 4 Felony). The juvenile has been charged with three counts of Aggravated Vehicular Hijacking (Class X Felony), one count of Armed Robbery with a Firearm (Class X Felony) one count of Unlawful Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle (Class 2 Felony) and one count of Unlawful Use of a Weapon (Class 4 Felony).

With the juvenile’s transfer to adult court, all three defendants will now face the same penalty of between twenty-one and forty-five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections if found guilty. The juvenile’s next court appearance is scheduled for August 14, 2020, in front of Judge John Kinsella.

Members of the public are reminded that this complaint contains only charges and is not proof of the defendants’ guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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