People v. Sanders

2025 IL App (1st) 251811-U
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in People v. Sanders. Read the opinion of the Court — 2024 IL App (3d) 230504-U
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided December 15, 2025·No. 1-25-1811·Unpublished

Opinion

2025 IL App (1st) 251811-U

SECOND DIVISION December 15, 2025

No. 1-25-1811B

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1). ______________________________________________________________________________

IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County. ) v. ) 24CR12344 ) DIMITRI SANDERS, ) Honorable ) Tyria B. Walton, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge Presiding. _____________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE McBRIDE delivered the judgment of the court. Presiding Justice Van Tine and Justice D.B. Walker concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: The trial court’s order for defendant’s continued detention affirmed where no new information was presented that undermined the original conclusion that defendant’s detention was necessary.

¶2 Defendant, Dimitri Sanders, appeals an order for his continued pretrial detention.

¶3 The record on appeal shows that on November 17, 2024, defendant was arrested and

charged with two counts of first degree murder and one count of attempted first degree murder. No. 1-25-1811B

Those charges were based on allegations that, after getting into a verbal altercation with a woman

(“Witness One”) on a residential Chicago street, defendant shot the woman’s 59-year old mother

(“Victim One”) and her 30-year old sister (“Victim Two”). 1 Victim One died from her injuries.

¶4 On November 20, 2024, the State filed a verified petition for a detention hearing, and the

court held a hearing that same day before the Honorable Susana Ortiz. At the hearing, Pretrial

services stated that defendant had a “New criminal activity scale 2; failure to appear scale 2; new

PSA score coincides with pretrial supervision level 3.”

¶5 The State proffered that around 11:30 pm on July 4, 2024, Witness One was outside of her

family home in Chicago looking for eyeglasses that she thought she lost on the sidewalk, while

Victim One was inside the home. As she searched, defendant approached, along with defendant’s

sister. Defendant and Witness One got into a “verbal altercation” which “eventually de[-

]escalated.” Defendant and his sister walked away, and stood on a nearby corner.

¶6 Shortly after, Witness One’s sister, Victim Two, returned home, along with another sister

(“Witness Two”). Victim One emerged from the home. Witness One began telling her mother and

sisters about what had happened. As they were talking, defendant and his sister returned, and

defendant “charge[d] at” Witness One. Victim One held Witness One back, “trying to stop any

kind of physical fight.” Fearing that her mother and sister were going to get hurt, Victim Two, a

valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card (“FOID”) and Concealed Carry License (“CCL”)

holder, took out a firearm from her purse. Victim Two pointed the firearm at defendant, and told

him to leave the area.

1 During the initial hearing, the victims and witnesses were referred to by number. In this appeal, we will continue to refer to them using the terms that were used at that hearing. 2 No. 1-25-1811B

¶7 Defendant and his sister began to walk northbound away from the group. Victim Two then

put her firearm back in her purse, and turned around, facing the opposite direction of where

defendant and his sister walked.

¶8 As the women stood outside, facing away from defendant, “shots r[a]ng out.” Neighbors,

who had come outside during the earlier commotion, observed defendant shooting a firearm in the

direction of the victims.

¶9 Upon hearing the gunshots, Victim Two began “to run southbound opposite of where the

defendant [wa]s shooting and realize[d] that she’[d] been shot.” She was transported to an area

hospital where she was treated for a gunshot wound to her lower back.

¶ 10 Victim One sustained a gunshot wound to her inner left thigh and a gunshot wound to the

back of her head, causing her death.

¶ 11 Following the shooting, Witness Two noticed pain in her back. The day after the shooting,

she realized that she had a bullet fragment buried in her skin on her back. She did not seek medical

treatment but took pictures. Defendant was not charged in connection with her injuries.

¶ 12 During the ensuing investigation, three nine-millimeter shell casings were located at the

scene of the shooting. Chicago Police Department firearm lab preliminary analysis showed a high

probability that the casings were fired from the same firearm.

¶ 13 A cell phone was also located on the scene. Although the record is not clear as to the

ownership of that phone, the State asserted that when officers found it, they saw the screen light

up and observed an incoming call from “Dimitri.” The police then received an anonymous call

identifying the shooter as defendant.

3 No. 1-25-1811B

¶ 14 Thereafter, officers placed defendant into a photo array. Three witnesses from the scene

positively identified defendant as the shooter. Defendant’s sister was also identified by multiple

witnesses as the person who was with him that night.

¶ 15 During the course of the police investigation, a search was conducted on defendant’s phone

number. Cell tower data showed defendant’s phone number connected to a cell tower in the vicinity

of the homicide at the time of the incident.

¶ 16 Defendant was arrested on November 17, 2024. At the time of his arrest, defendant was in

possession of a phone. Police officers executed a search warrant on the phone. The subsequent

forensic analysis of the phone revealed internet searches on October 30, 2024, for “how long does

it take CPD to solve a murder”; “what do police need to solve a murder”; and “Chicago 4th of July

homicides.” Another internet search was completed on November 12, 2024, for “are family

members credible in criminal cases.” The phone also contained a screen shot of a post regarding

the death of Victim One from a “Facebook page for a business that is titled legal help firm.”

¶ 17 The State further explained that defendant’s criminal background included an arrest in

2021 for a Class 4 aggravated unlawful use of a weapon (UUW). “That matter was ultimately

reduced to a misdemeanor and he received time considered served.”

¶ 18 Based on the above proffer, the State argued the proof was evident and the presumption

great that defendant committed the detainable offense of first degree murder, and that he posed a

real and present threat to the safety of a person, persons, or the community. The State noted that

defendant began to fire on the group when they were walking away, and that “[a]ny person who is

firing a gun in a neighborhood at people on a holiday shows no regard for human life and is clearly

a danger in our community.” And although Victim Two had previously displayed a firearm, that

firearm was back in her purse at the time of the shooting, and it was no longer a threat.

4 No. 1-25-1811B

¶ 19 Finally, the State asserted that there were no conditions the court could impose to mitigate

the threat defendant posed. The State asserted that, “Although this defendant is not a convicted

felon,” he had been charged with a felony, and the “case was pending for two years before

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People v. Sanders, 2025 IL App (1st) 251811-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2025).

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