A man who shot another man to death during a drug-related robbery was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder by a Lake County jury.
After deliberating for just about an hour, jurors returned a guilty verdict against Johnathan Skroko, 28, of South Elgin, for the September 2022 murder of Robbie Dickerson, 42, of Racine, Wisconsin, in Antioch.
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Dickerson was found dead in a bathtub with two gunshot wounds. Witnesses testified that Dickerson had gone to the apartment of Skroko’s friend Hailey Miller in Antioch to sell her drugs.
Miller testified at trial that Skroko told her he planned to rob Dickerson before he carried out the shooting. The pair fled afterward, going to various places in the region before being arrested at a Gurnee motel.
Miller later pleaded guilty to armed robbery. She is awaiting sentencing.
Skroko testified that he acted in self-defense, saying Dickerson lunged at him. But prosecutors said that story did not match the evidence police collected at the crime scene.
Jurors made the finding that Skroko personally discharged a firearm, which adds 25 years to a prison sentence. That means he will face a minimum term of 45 years behind bars.
“First, we want to continue to express our condolences to all of those who were impacted by this calculated murder,” State’s Attorney Eric Rimnehart said. “The Antioch Police Department, the Major Crimes Task Force, our experienced trial prosecutors, our office staff, and our victim specialists never stopped working to get justice in this case.”