Juvenile suspected in Downers Grove carjackings to be charged as adult

A DuPage County judge Monday agreed to transfer a juvenile suspected in a string of armed carjackings in Downers Grove and Warrenville from juvenile to adult court.

The juvenile has been in custody at the Juvenile Detention Center since his detention hearing on Dec. 19, according to a DuPage County State's Attorney's Office news release.

His alleged accomplices, Emanuel Embry, 19, and Daysean Washington-Davis, 20, both of Chicago, are in custody at the DuPage County Jail since bond was denied for both men.

At the time of their arrest, the juvenile was on probation for robbery, Embry was on probation out of Cook County for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and Washington-Davis was on bond out of Cook County for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, the release stated.

Downers Grove police on Nov. 30 responded to a call on Prairie Avenue regarding a carjacking.

The victim was sitting in the driver’s seat of her car, which was parked in her garage, and her daughter was in the front passenger seat. A male subject, later identified as the juvenile, allegedly approached the car. The juvenile, who was wearing a mask, knocked on the window of the car, displayed a handgun and told the victim “give me the car," the release stated.

The victim threw the car keys to the juvenile before she and her daughter got out of the car. The juvenile entered the vehicle and drove away. Hehe was followed by another car, allegedly driven by Washington-Davis.

Nearly two weeks later, on Dec. 13, Warrenville police responded to a call on County Ridge Road regarding a carjacking.

As the victim drove, he was followed by a car allegedly occupied by the juvenile, Washington-Davis and Embry, the release stated.

When the victim arrived at his house, he exited his car and began walking toward his house at which time he was allegedly approached by two masked men, later identified as the juvenile and Embry, who were both armed. The men demanded the victim’s car key and his wallet and drove off in the victim’s vehicle, according to the release.

Approximately 20 minutes later, at 2:27 p.m., Downers Grove police responded to a carjacking on Hawkins Street. The female victim was sitting in her car in her driveway when she was approached by two individuals, later identified as the juvenile and Embry, who wore masks and were armed, the release stated.

They allegedly ordered the woman out of her vehicle and drove off in her car. Washington-Davis was the driver of the vehicle that brought the men to the Hawkins Street address, police said.

A friend of the victim saw the alleged carjacking and followed the stolen vehicle. When the car was stopped in traffic, the victim’s friend approached at which time the occupants, allegedly the juvenile and Embry, exited the vehicle and fled the scene. The victim’s friend moved her vehicle off the roadway, and one of the defendant’s entered the victim’s friend’s car and drove away.

An investigation conducted by Downers Grove and Warrenville police led to Embry, Washington-Davis and the juvenile as suspects in the carjackings. Police arrested the juvenile, who was taken into custody Dec. 13. On Dec. 17, police arrested Washington-Davis at his apartment and several hours later arrested Embry in Chicago.

“In DuPage County we take violent crimes, such as alleged against these defendants, extremely seriously,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. “If found guilty, the juvenile allegedly involved in these crimes is equally culpable as his co-defendants and for justice to be served it is imperative that any penalty he faces reflect the severity of the crime. Simply put, the fact that he was several months shy of his eighteenth birthday should not shield him for a proper measure of justice.”

Embry has been charged with two counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking, one count of armed robbery with a firearm and one count of unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Washington-Davis has been charged with four counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking, one count of armed robbery with a firearm, one count of armed violence, two counts of unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.

The juvenile has been charged with three counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking, one count of armed robbery with a firearm, one count of unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle and one count of unlawful use of a weapon.

With the juvenile’s transfer to adult court, all three defendants will now face the same penalty of between 21and 45 years in the prison if found guilty.

The juvenile’s next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 14.