Man sentenced to 30 years for 2020 University Park murder

A University Park man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the first-degree murder of a 23-year-old man who was gunned down after shopping at store more than four years ago.

Will County Judge Sarah Jones sentenced Justin Regular, 23, of University Park, to prison on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to the Jan. 6, 2020 fatal shooting of Chikiris Murphy, 23. Regular was 19 at the time of the shooting.

Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said in a statement that Regular “snuffed out the life of a young man in his prime through this senseless and tragic act of gun violence.”

“The sanctity of human life is the cornerstone of our civilized society. Regular will have three decades behind bars to reflect on his calculated, cold-blooded murder. Sadly nothing can ever replace this life lost forever as a result of Regular’s heinous act of violence,” Glasgow said.

On Jan. 6, 2020, Murphy was shopping at Mike’s Food Mart in University Park, with his sister’s boyfriend, according to prosectors.

At that time, Regular “aggressively confronted” Murphy at the store and then waited for Murphy outside of the location.

“After Regular again confronted Murphy, he proceeded to pull a handgun from his jacket pocket and shoot Murphy multiple times as he continued to walk towards him,” prosecutors said.

Regular was identified as the shooter by multiple eyewitnesses on scene. Murphy was taken to a hospital in Olympia Fields where he was pronounced dead.