A Chicago man who robbed a Red Line passenger while wearing an ankle monitor has received a six-year sentence for both crimes. However, he was given a respite since the judge ruled that his sentences be completed simultaneously, despite the fact that he committed the offenses consecutively.
Shannon Stephens, 24, was arrested on February 19 after allegedly robbing a 16-year-old boy on a Red Line train near Garfield, according to Chicago police. Stephens and 20-year-old Markell Harper of Gary, Indiana, allegedly approached the boy in ski masks and sweatshirts, demanding his scooter and key. When the victim said he didn’t have a key and that the scooter was dead, Harper grabbed into his pocket and held his waist as if he had a gun, according to police.
When the train stopped at Garfield, the youngster attempted to flee, but Stephens and Harper allegedly grabbed his jacket and tried to drag him back onto the train. They failed, and the child approached police on the station mezzanine. Officers stopped the train at 35th Street and discovered Harper still on board with the scooter, according to the report. A witness pointed detectives to Harper as he exited the station on 33rd Street, and the victim recognized him, according to police.
The February robbery was Stephens’ second reported heist on the Red Line while wearing an ankle monitor. Prosecutors say he and Jamari Gray, 21, were wearing ankle monitors when they robbed a 41-year-old man on a northbound Red Line train near 47th Street in September. Stephens allegedly sliced the victim’s left wrist and palm, and Gray punched him in the face. Before escaping with the man’s backpack, the guys plucked out a bit of his beard.
Despite charges that he committed a robbery while wearing an ankle monitor, Judge Carol Howard freed Stephens on electronic monitoring on November 11, according to court documents. The arrangement rapidly encountered issues. A month later, a court officer informed Howard that Stephens had failed to report to the office weekly as required. Howard kept him on electronic surveillance, and court staff routinely informed her about compliance difficulties, according to records. Howard signed an arrest warrant when he went missing on February 9, two weeks before his most recent heist.
Stephens has since pled guilty to both robberies. Howard sentenced him to six years in each case, running concurrently. Stephens is scheduled to be freed on September 7, 2028, after receiving the state’s usual 50% sentence reduction for good behavior, as well as credit for time spent in electronic monitoring in jail.
According to court documents, Howard sentenced Gray to three years probation for the September 2025 robbery. Harper is still fighting the robbery charges coming from the February attack and is currently under electronic monitoring.
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