Ex-con arrested, named suspect in Crest Hill gun attack

An ex-convict who once faced a murder charge in connection with a cold-blooded ambush killing was arrested Thursday morning and has been identified as the triggerman who shot a woman as she was trying to drive to work the day after Christmas.

Daeviontae Pruitte, 28, was arrested Thursday morning at his home outside Morris, said Crest Hill Police Chief Ed Clark.

Pruitte was released from prison less than three weeks before the gun attack on North Hickory Street between Rose and Elsie avenues the morning after Christmas, Illinois Department of Corrections show.

A 58-year-old woman trying to drive to work shortly before 5 that morning attempted to navigate around a car blocking the street, according to the woman’s sister.

“He was parked in the middle of the street [and] when she pulled up behind him, he backed up into a parked car,” the sister said. “She assumed something was wrong with him and drove around, that is when he fired three or four times at her.”

The woman was hit in the forearm and drove herself to AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, according to the sister and police.

The woman was then transported from St. Joe’s to Stroger Hospital in Chicago, where she underwent surgery and has since been discharged, the sister said.

After the shooting, the Crest Hill police and officers with the Joliet Police Department’s Special Operations Squad shut down the area surrounding the crime scene and ultimately obtained a search warrant for a residence on that block, Clark said.

Crest Hill detectives met with prosecutors Monday and obtained an arrest warrant charging Pruitte with violating the conditions of his bail.

The warrant carried a $100,000 bond, records show.

Pruitte’s most recent stint in a state prison began in October, shortly after he was arrested and charged with domestic battery. He was released two months later.

Pruitte’s case remains pending and he has been free on bond since his release from prison Dec. 7.

Clark said officers recovered unspecified evidence from Pruitte’s home. He also said Pruitte was charged with possession of ammunition by a felon and that the Department of Corrections obtained a warrant charging him with violating his parole.

Clark said the effort to apprehend Pruitte involved assistance from the Joliet police, the Illinois State Police, the Will County Cooperative Police Assistance Team and the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office.

While Pruitte hjas yet to be charged with the Dec. 26 gun attack, Clark said he is “a suspect in the shooting. He is the suspect in the shooting as of right now.”

“We’re making some serious headway ‚” Clark said. “I’m very encouraged.”

Pruitte has served time in prison for aggravated discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a gang member and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

In 2015, Pruitte stood trial for the August 2012 murder of 54-year-old Timothy Egner.

Egner was shot to death outside the Center Street Wendy’s while waiting to pick up a relative from work.

The judge presiding over the trial, Carla Alessio Policandriotes, found Pruitte not guilty.

Alessio Policandriotes, who is now retired from the bench, said prosecutors failed to prove Pruitte committed the murder but she did conceded that Pruitte was caught with the gun used to kill Egner.