Facebook Live Torture Case Defendant Gets 8 Years In Plea Deal

CHICAGO, IL — The man accused of setting in motion the disturbing events that led to the torture of a mentally challenged Crystal Lake man that was live-streamed on Facebook pleaded guilty Thursday in connection with the 2017 incident as part of a deal with prosecutors. Jordan Hill, 20, was sentenced to eight years in prison following his plea, according to the Chicago Tribune.

As part of the agreement with prosecutors, Hill pleaded guilty to a hate crime and aggravated kidnapping, a plea deal he had initially rejected in March. Along with those counts, the Carpentersville man originally had been charged with aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, residential burglary, robbery and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

Hill was one of four people arrested and accused of tying up the then-18-year-old victim, who is white, with duct tape before beating and tormenting him for hours on Jan. 3, 2017, in an apartment on Chicago's West Side. The other defendants, who are black, included Tesfaye Cooper, of Chicago; and sisters Brittany and Tanishia Covington, both of Chicago. All four initially pleaded not guilty in the case.

Like Hill, the Covingtons accepted separate plea deals, and Brittany was given probation, while Tanishia was sentenced to three years in prison. Brittany, however, was taken into custody in April after allegedly violating her parole by accessing Facebook on her phone.

On Thursday, Cooper's lawyer said his client is considering taking a plea deal, too, the Tribune reports.

More Patch Coverage:

• 4 Arrested in Binding, Torturing of Mentally Challenged Man: Police
• Judge To Facebook Live Torture Case Defendants: 'Where Is Your Sense Of Decency?'
• Facebook Live Torture Case Defendants Plead Not Guilty
• Bail Set For All 4 Defendants In Facebook Live Torture Case
• Teen Takes Plea Deal In Hate Crime
• Facebook Live Torture Case Defendant Charged In Jail Fight
• Defendant Hill Rejects Plea Deal
• Facebook Live Torture Case Defendant Gets 3 Years In Plea Deal
• Facebook Live Torture Defendant Jailed Over Social Media

According to authorities, Hill was accused of picking up the victim at a McDonald's in Streamwood on Dec. 31, 2017, in a stolen van and then spending the next two days driving around Chicago's West Side. Eventually, Hill and the victim, who knew one another after attending school together in Aurora, ended up at an apartment in the 3300 block of West Lexington Avenue, where the Covingtons lived.

While captive, the victim had his clothes and hair cut and was forced to drink water from a toilet bowl. The defendants can be heard shouting, "F--- Donald Trump!" and "F--- white people!" in the video that captured the brutal incident, which was streamed live on Facebook.

The victim was able to escape his tormentors when another tenant in the apartment building complained about the noise being made. Chicago police officers responding to the complaint saw the victim walking outside — hurt, confused and dressed in an inside-out tank top worn backwards — and an investigation into the incident was started, leading to the defendants' arrests.

More via the Chicago Tribune

Jordan Hill (Photo via Chicago Police Department)