John Shadbar, 72, of plead guilty Wednesday in Will County court to charges of attempted first-degree murder and a hate crime for the May 2024 shooting of his Lockport Heights neighbor.

Following the plea agreement, Shadbar was sentenced by Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak to 20 years in prison for the murder charge. At least 85% of the sentence must be served before he could be released, according to the plea agreement.

Shadbar will concurrently serve a three-year sentence for the hate crime charge.

If released, Shadbar would also serve three years of mandatory probation. He does get credit for 631 days of time served.

Additional charges of aggravated battery, aggravated discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm without a firearm owner’s identification card, three charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and criminal damage to property were dismissed.

The state also opted not to use the firearm enhancement on the attempted murder charge in the plea agreement.

On the afternoon of May 7, 2024, Shadbar, who is white, shot his next door neighbor Melissa Robertson, 47, who is also white, after she sounded an airhorn in response to his loudly revving his motorcycle engine in his driveway in the Lockport Heights neighborhood of unincorporated Lockport Township, prosecutors said.

Robertson and several neighbors reported that Shadbar had regularly harassed and threatened Robertson and her sons, who are Black, including by using racist and sexist slurs, and throwing M-80 style fireworks over their fence, prosecutors said.

Before going to get the rifle he used to shoot Robertson, Shadbar threatened to kill the family with the use of racial slurs, prosecutors said.

Robertson sent her son Amar, who was 7 at the time, inside with family friends who were visiting the home before Shadbar returned and shot her, prosecutors said.

Robertson was in a coma for nine days following the shooting and said she has sustained permanent physical and psychological injuries from the shooting.

“I’m glad it’s all over,” said Robertson after the proceedings. “If it had to happen, this is the best outcome. He put me through the worst time of my life. [The sentence] is a lot, but he came over with the intention of a massacre.”

Robertson and her aunt, Jeanne Beyer, who has acted as the family spokesperson and cared for Robertson and her son in the aftermath of the shooting, said they are satisfied with the outcome.

“I’m glad it went like this and we didn’t have to go to trial,” said Beyer. “Reliving all the details and dragging it out wouldn’t have been healthy for anyone.”

“It’s a good feeling when justice works the way it’s supposed to,” Robertson said. “I’m ready to start a new part of my life.”

‘Tore my whole life apart’

Robertson was joined in court by Beyer, her sons, and a group of family and friends. As Assistant States Attorney Jonathon Sakellaropoulos detailed the incident for the court, she kept her head down in her hands.

Robertson said in her impact statement before Shadbar’s sentencing that she has been diagnosed with PTSD and CPTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and that she has constant physical pain from her injuries.

“Those bullets ripped up more than my backyard and body, they tore my whole life apart,” she said.

Robertson told the court that while she “hopes (Shadbar’s) life will naturally expire before his sentence does,” that she forgives him for his actions.

“I refuse to be filled with that poison,” she said, addressing Bertani-Tomczak. “I do feel sorry for him because he is a mean, hateful, insensitive person who has lived a life of hate. After he shot me, he turned around, walked away and said ‘now you can shut up.’ Your honor, he broke my body, blew off my thumb, and completely shattered any sense of security I had, but he could never take away my big mouth. And I want him to know today as I stand here that I’m never gonna shut up. My voice is still here, louder and stronger than ever, and I’m stronger than that hate.”

Later in an interview with Shaw Local, Robertson said she was shot in the right hand and in the torso, causing broken ribs and damage to her colon and spleen,

One of her lungs is partially collapsed and she has internal scar tissue and trauma induced carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, which has greatly limited her dexterity and her ability to work, she said.

“I was a self-sufficient single mom, and I’ve had every chance I had to make money taken away from me,” said Robertson.

Prior to the shooting, she worked as a home healthcare worker for seniors and cleaned houses, things her disabilities now prevent her from doing. She has also been unable to participate in her musical hobbies of playing piano and clarinet, she said.

“I haven’t paid the rent since the shooting,” Robertson said in the post-court interview. “I’m lucky that my landlord is understanding, and is family, but she still has a mortgage to pay. This has cost my family a lot financially, emotionally, and physically.”

“She was shot because her neighbor didn’t like the color of her kids’ skin,” Beyer told Shaw Local. “That’s completely unreasonable in this day and age. Her life will never be the same. They’ll be dealing with this for the rest of their lives. If you don’t like someone for whatever reason, just don’t talk to them! Just go on with your own life, or you’ll destroy your own, like John Shadbar did.”

Robertson is working with a lawyer to get on disability and is pursuing funds from the Illinois Attorney General’s Crime Victim’s Compensation program. The family has started a GoFundMe page to help her pay her bills in the mean time.

Now that the criminal case has been completed, Robertson’s civil lawsuit against Shadbar and his estranged wife, Wendy, who filed for divorce shortly after his arrest, can proceed.