Man receives 50-year sentence in Fox Lake shooting death

WAUKEGAN – A Lake County judge sentenced a man to 50 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections in connection with the 2022 fatal shooting of a Fox Lake man.

Azmi Ibrahim, 38, was convicted Jan. 22 of first-degree murder after a jury trial before Judge D. Christopher Lombardo, according to a news release.

“This brutal murder with an assault weapon deserves our community’s loudest condemnation,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in the release. “We will continue to support the victim’s family as we also work with law enforcement and legislator stakeholders to limit high-risk individuals from accessing firearms. The Violent Crimes Unit continues to hold accountable the most dangerous offenders and we take some satisfaction knowing that this particular individual will spend decades behind bars where he will not be able to hurt anyone in Lake County.”

In December 2022, Fox Lake police officers responded to a report of shots fired at an apartment building on Mineola Avenue. When officers arrived, they found Roy Hoffman, 77, with a large gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the release.

Law enforcement officers eventually learned through phone records, eyewitnesses and surveillance video that Hoffman had arranged to have a “romantic relationship” with a woman on the night of the murder. This investigation led to the arrest of Ibrahim on Dec. 13, 2022.

During the sentencing hearing, Chief Deputy of the Criminal Division Jeffery Facklam and assistant state’s attorney Kyle Doyle from the Human Trafficking Task Force, argued that Ibrahim perpetrated a vicious attack when he pulled the trigger on an unarmed 77-year-old veteran with a walker. Prosecutors pointed out the shooting was not something impulsive or spontaneous, but rather a conscious decision Ibrahim made from the moment he left his car with the firearm. Prosecutors asked that Ibrahim be sentenced to at least 60 years in prison.

Sentencing laws allowed Lombardo to sentence Ibrahim to a range of 45 years to natural life in prison with the term to be served at 100%.

Before the trial, Ibrahim was being held in the Lake County jail on a $5 million bond. The cash bond was set by a judge in late 2022 before the effective date of bail reform. After the guilty verdict, Lombardo revoked Ibrahim’s ability to post bond. Ibrahim received 627 days of credit for time served.