By Rummana Hussain
Chicago Sun Times
CHICAGO — Ronald Heard Jr. was a “modern day” good samaritan when he tried to help a woman who was being harassed by a drug dealer at a South Side White Castle, Cook County Judge Stanley Sacks said Thursday.
But the “hero’’ ended up paying with his life for doing the right thing, Sacks said.
Darius Walton was sentenced Thursday to 60 years in prison for murdering Heard at the White Castle in 2007.
“He got involved,” Sacks said of Heard, the son of a Chicago Police officer. “Most people wouldn’t have gotten involved.”
“It’s not great fun to sentence you, but you earned it,” Sacks said while looking at Walton, who has five previous felony convictions.
Heard, 23, had just been promoted to assistant branch manager at a Hammond, Ind., Chase Bank when he was shot five times on Oct. 6, 2007, his sister Wykella Heard said. He was just two months shy of earning his business degree at Chicago State University and was planning a big celebration for his twin sons’ first birthday.
Wykella Heard said her younger sibling was an “awesome” brother and son who would often show up at her and her mom’s workplace with flowers.
He regularly attended church and would have the family in stitches over his appetite, said Wykella Heard, 29.
“He would eat his food, your food and everyone else’s food,” Wykella Heard said.
Walton, 25, suffers from mental illness and had grown up in poverty, his attorney said.
Just four months before the crime, he was sent to a psychiatric ward because he was hallucinating and acted violently toward his brother’s friend, his attorney said.
But those hardships don’t excuse Walton’s behavior at the restaurant’s parking lot at 69th and Western, Sacks said.
Walton, of the 2200 block of South Christiana, tried to sell marijuana to Heard as he waited in line at the drive-through, authorities said. When Heard declined, Walton allegedly moved on to a woman in another car and argued with her when she told him she wasn’t interested in buying drugs.
That’s when Heard sprang to help the woman and was shot, police said.
Walton apologized to Heard’s family and then asked the judge if he could hug his mom before he was led away by sheriff’s officers.
Sacks allowed him to talk with his mom but permitted no physical contact.
Heard’s family called the sentence “just.” Heard’s father, Ronald Heard Sr., works as a tactical officer in the Prairie District. Heard’s uncle is also a Chicago Police officer.
Rashad Johnson, who provided Walton with the weapon, is currently serving a seven-year sentence.
Copyright 2010 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.