Springfield man facing two Class X felonies accepts plea, receives seven-year prison term

QUINCY — A Springfield man facing two Class X felonies for his involvement in an incident during in April 2024 in Quincy pled guilty Thursday afternoon to three lesser charges.

Kareun Brewer, 22, appeared with attorney Kevin Bross and Public Defender John Citro in Adams County Circuit Court before Judge Tad Brenner. He pled guilty to attempted aggravated use of a firearm, kidnapping and aggravated battery of a peace officer, all Class 2 felonies. Bross represented Brewer on the firearm and kidnapping charges, and Citro represented Brewer on the battery charge.

Brewer will serve seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) on each charge, and each sentence will be served concurrently. He also received 327 days of credit for being lodged in the Adams County Jail, and he is eligible for 50 percent sentencing under Illinois’ truth in sentencing law.

Brewer also is being recommended for impact incarceration — defined by the IDOC as an “intervention program designed to promote lawful behavior in criminal offenders through a highly structured program of discipline” — and substance abuse treatment while in prison.

Charges of aggravated kidnapping and home invasion (both Class X felonies punishable for between 21 and 45 years in prison) and aggravated battery in a public place (a Class 3 felony) were dismissed as part of the plea negotiation.

Quincy Police officers responded to a shots-fired call in the 700 block of South 14^th on April 8. The victim was not struck and reported that he and a second person were kidnapped at gunpoint after a home invasion in the 2500 block of Larch Road. The second victim escaped after the shots were fired uninjured. Brewer eventually was arrested in Springfield May 10 with the assistance of the Illinois Department of Corrections parole agents.

Regarding the battery charge, Assistant State’s Attorney Ryan Parker said David Baumgartner, a corrections officer in Adams County, was working last September and ordered Brewer to “lock down” and go to his cell. Brewer refused, stood up, walked toward Baumgartner and began to actively resist by pushing. Baumgartner attempted to take Brewer down, but Brewer grabbed a hold of his duty belt to try to take him to the ground.

Regarding the firearm and kidnapping charges, Parker said Terron Cartmill was asleep in his Quincy residence on the evening of April 8 when people forcibly entered his house. They took him out of the home and to an automobile, then told him to drive. Parker said Cartmill would have testified that a firearm being placed against the back of his head. 

Cartmill said he eventually drove a residence that was his girlfriend’s parents’ home in the 700 block of 14^thStreet. While he was inside, a gunshot came from outside the home and struck the home. Cartmill later identified Brewer as the person who had taken him into the car under the threat of force.