Appellate Court affirms 30-year sentence of man guilty of Downers Grove carjacking

The Third District Appellate Court of Illinois has affirmed the 30-year sentence of Martavious Robinson for a 2019 aggravated vehicular hijacking in Downers Grove.

Robinson was a juvenile at the time of the offense. Following his arrest, the court granted the state’s petition to transfer Robinson’s juvenile case to adult court, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release.

In his appeal, Robinson claimed that the circuit court applied the wrong sentencing range when handing down the sentence.

On Nov. 30, 2019, Downers Grove police responded to a carjacking in which the victims, a mother and her daughter who had come home for Thanksgiving from college, were sitting in their vehicle after pulling into their garage. They were approached by Robinson who was armed with a gun and wearing a mask, authorities said.

Robinson ordered the women out of their vehicle and drove off in their car. An investigation into recent carjackings found that Robinson and two other individuals were involved in an armed carjacking in Warrenville on Dec. 13, 2019, as well as another carjacking in Downers Grove the same day that the defendants carjacked at gunpoint a pregnant woman’s car from her driveway, according to the release.

Robinson’s co-defendants each pled guilty to one count of aggravated vehicular hijacking. One of his co-defendants received a 36-year sentence while the other co-defendant is awaiting sentencing, according to the release.

On June 28, 2023, following a two-day trial, a jury found Robinson guilty of one count of aggravated vehicular hijacking. With a discretionary firearms enhancement of 15 years. Robinson was facing a sentence of between six to 45 years, the same sentence his co-defendants faced. On Jan. 22, 2024, Judge Michael Reidy sentenced Robinson to 30 years.

In its decision, the Appellate Court rejected Robinson’s claims and found that “There is no indication on the record that the court believed the firearm enhancement was mandatory.” and that the court could “in its discretion, decline to impose any otherwise applicable sentencing enhancement.”

The Appellate Court determined that “The lack of mitigating evidence and the court’s repeated comments about the terrifying nature of the crime, defendant’s disturbing enjoyment of the events, the damage to the victims and the need to protect the community demonstrate that the sentence imposed was based on the seriousness of the offense, not any potential misapprehension of the sentencing range.”

“The brazen actions of these defendants left two communities shaken and on edge, leaving residents worrying if they might be next,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. “No one, let alone entire communities, should have to live in fear for their personal safety.”