Man gets 31-year prison sentence for Darien home invasion

A former Chicago man was sentenced Aug. 8 to 31 years in prison after pleading guilty in April for his role in a 2019 Darien home invasion, prosecutors said.

Joseph Covington, 28, was ordered held without bond in December 2022 and has remained in custody at the DuPage County jail since that time, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release.

On Nov. 26, 2019, Darien police responded to a report of a home invasion at a residence on Belair Drive. Officers met with the victim, a female who was home alone from college.

About 9 a.m., after hearing a knock at the front door, the victim looked out her bedroom window into the backyard and noticed a man wearing an orange utility vest and black ski mask. As the victim turned around in her bedroom, she was confronted by another man, wearing dark clothing and a black ski mask, pointing a black and silver handgun at her, according to the release.

The masked individual forced the victim downstairs at gunpoint where she was confronted by three additional men wearing masks. The masked men, one of which later was identified as Covington, demanded to know where money was located inside the home, according to the release.

After repeated phone calls by the victim’s mother to the victim went unanswered, the masked individuals instructed the victim to answer her mother’s call and tell her everything was all right, authorities said.

After that conversation, the victim’s mother contacted a neighbor who went to the residence. When the victim opened the door at the instruction of the intruders, the neighbor was able to pull the victim out of the residence and call 911, according to the release.

Police including a K-9 unit arrived at the residence and were able to track the intruders’ path through backyards they took when fleeing the residence. Police found a .40 caliber black and silver handgun loaded with 13 rounds along a fence line in a neighbor’s yard as well as clothing items along the way, according to the release.

A short time later, police responded to a nearby Taco Bell parking lot for an individual who matched the description of the offenders, later identified as Covington. He was arrested at this time.

“I cannot begin to imagine the unspeakable terror the victim, who was home alone from college at the time, must have felt when she saw a masked man in her backyard and then was confronted by another armed, masked man in her bedroom,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. “Our homes are our sanctuaries and we all deserve to feel safe and secure at home. Mr. Covington not only stole the comfort and protection a home provides from his victim and her family, but also left an entire community on edge, concerned about their own well-being.”