Illinois man learns sentence after he 'executed' his wife in front of family members
Timothy Gordon: Age 48
KANE COUNTY, Ill. - An Illinois man was sentenced to natural life in prison this week for murdering his wife in front of family members in 2022.
Timothy Gordon, 48, of Montgomery, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the first-degree murder of his wife. Because Gordon used a firearm to carry out the murder, he faced an additional sentence of anywhere between 25 years to natural life in prison without parole.
About six weeks before the murder, his wife, Yahaira, filed for divorce from Gordon, but allowed him to live in the basement while she lived in a bedroom with her mother, her aunt and four children on the second floor of the house.
On the morning of Oct. 31, 2022, Gordon found out that his wife may have been in the process of getting an order of protection against him, which would have expelled him from the house, prosecutors said. He became upset and pushed his way into the bedroom and walked across the room to where Yahaira was sitting. He then put a gun near her left temple and fired one shot, killing her.
Yahaira's mother, aunt, a two-year-old and a seven-year-old were in the room at the time of the shooting.
The victim was recording on her cellphone at the time of the shooting.
Gordon had previously been convicted of armed violence and robbery in Cook County in 1994, aggravated battery with a firearm in Champaign County in 2000, aggravated DUI in Cook County in 2011 and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon in Mississippi in 2017.
Prosecutors said he was still on parole for the last offense when he murdered his wife.
After hearing the facts of the shooting and Gordon's criminal history, the judge found that Gordon "executed" his wife and imposed the maximum firearm sentence enhancement of natural life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Gordon is believed to be the first defendant in Kane County who has been sentenced to a term of natural life in prison based on the firearm sentencing enhancement factor.