By Megan Crepeau
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — A woman accused of shooting a Chicago police officer in the vest during an exchange of gunfire that also left her critically injured pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated battery, Cook County court records show.
Deangela Eaton, 29, had been set for a jury trial on charges including attempted murder, but instead pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. With expected credit for good behavior and time already spent in custody, she could be released in about four years.
Had Eaton been convicted at trial of the attempted murder charge, she would have faced a minimum of 26 years, Judge Diana Kenworthy said at a pretrial hearing last week.
Prosecutors have said Eaton was near a West Side drug corner in May 2017 when two plainclothes police officers on patrol saw her engaging in what they suspected were drug deals.
One officer left his unmarked police SUV and called Eaton over for an interview, but she refused and began to run away, prosecutors said. The officer gave chase, and when he was a few feet behind her, she reached back with a gun and fired at the officer while she ran, prosecutors said.
The bullet hit a flashlight strapped to his bulletproof vest and then the vest itself, leaving a hole and a burn mark over the area of his heart, according to prosecutors.
Both the officer and his partner then fired at Eaton, shooting her multiple times and knocking her down. She was initially taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition.
Eaton had been expected to testify in her own defense at trial this week.
“Deangela Eaton is a wonderful family person who’s loved by all, and she’s looking forward to putting this episode behind her,” Jonathan Bedi, one of her attorneys, told the Tribune on Monday.
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