Montgomery Man Who 'Executed' Wife To Spend Rest Of Natural Life In Prison: SA

MONTGOMERY, IL — A Montgomery man who fatally shot his wife on Halloween two years ago will spend the rest of his natural life in prison, officials said Friday.

Timothy Gordon, 48, was sentenced by Kane County Circuit Court Judge Clint Hull to 50 years for first-degree murder of his wife, Yajaira. Because he used a firearm to kill her, he faced an additional sentence of anywhere between 25 years to natural life in prison without parole.

The judge imposed the maximum firearm sentence enhancement after hearing evidence regarding Gordon's criminal history, facts of the shooting and arguments presented by prosecutors. The details led Hull to find Gordon had "executed" his wife, according to a news release from the Kane County State's Attorney's Office.

Gordon is believed to be the first defendant in Kane County who was sentenced to natural life based on the firearm sentencing enhancement factor, officials said.

Just after noon on Oct. 31, 2022, Montgomery police responded to the residence in the 1300 block of Oak Ridge Drive to find 35-year-old Yajaira unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound, Patch reported. Officials said Gordon shot her once in the head, killing her.

About six weeks before the murder, Yahaira filed for divorce from Gordon but allowed him to live in the basement while she lived in a bedroom on the second floor of the house along with her mother, aunt and four children.

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On Halloween, Gordon was angered after learning Yajaira potentially sought a court order to remove him from the home. Around noon, he returned to the house and went upstairs into a room where Yajaira sat at a desk with four others in the room — her mother and aunt as well as two young children, officials said.

When Gordon asked Yajaira why she was "doing this to him," saying he had nowhere to live, she replied, "Stop coming up here," prosecutors said. He proceeded to fatally shoot her in her left temple with a .25-caliber Beretta handgun.

The man's criminal history includes the following, according to the Kane County State's Attorney's Office.

• Armed violence and robbery conviction in Cook County in 1994
• Aggravated battery conviction with a firearm in Champaign County in 2000
• Unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon in Mississippi in 2017. He was on parole for this offense when he killed his wife.

Assistant State's Attorney Sams provided the following statement about the sentence:

The defendant received the life sentence he deserved for doing to Yahaira what she didn’t deserve. She did not deserve to die in this utterly contemptible way. She did not deserve to have all of the memories robbed from her that she would have made with her children as they grew — high school, proms, weddings, grandchildren. Couple the despicable act the defendant committed on October 31, 2022, with his extensive criminal history, and it is simple to see why Judge Hull agreed with the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office that society needs to be protected from the defendant for the rest of his life. Nothing can bring Yahaira back for her family and loved ones who traveled thousands of miles to attend the sentencing hearing. But their presence, and their words through the victim impact statements that were read in court, are testimony to Yahaira’s beautiful life that was taken away so senselessly.

We greatly appreciate the work and effort put into this case by the Montgomery Police Department, especially Det. Sgt. Greg Mayyou, as well as the Kane County Major Crimes Task Force for the assistance that group provided.