A Kane County jury has found Travares O. Mitchell of Aurora guilty of first-degree murder in the 2024 shooting of his former domestic partner, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office says.
On Jan. 13, 2024, police responded to reports of a crashed vehicle and gunfire near Prairie Street and Woodlawn Avenue in Aurora and found Serhonda Burnett, 46, in the passenger seat of the crashed vehicle with gunshot wounds, officials said.
She was taken to a local hospital, but was pronounced dead a short time later, a news release Thursday from the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office said.
Based on witness statements and surveillance video evidence in the area, investigators determined that Mitchell, 51, had crashed his car into a tree, exited the driver’s seat and discharged three gunshots through the driver’s side front window, hitting Burnett, and then fleeing on foot, the release said.
Mitchell at the time was a recent domestic partner of Burnett’s, according to officials.
A warrant was obtained for Mitchell’s arrest, and he was arrested in Orlando, Florida, on March 6, 2024, and charged with first-degree murder.
A jury in Kane County recently found Mitchell guilty of first-degree murder and guilty on a felony armed habitual criminal charge, the news release from the State’s Attorney’s Office said.
He faces a sentence of between 20 and 60 years in state prison for the first-degree murder conviction, with an additional 25 years to life add-on sentence because prosecutors proved that he personally discharged the firearm used in the killing, the State’s Attorney’s Office said. He also faces six to 30 years in prison for the armed habitual criminal conviction.
Mitchell’s next court appearance is set for Jan. 30, 2026, according to Kane County court records. He remains in custody at the Kane County jail.
