Corrie Wallace sentenced to 88 years for 2006 murder
June 2
JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced that a Joliet man was to 88 years in prison on Tuesday for gunning down an unarmed man three years ago.
Corrie Wallace, 25, of the 300 block of North Chicago Street, Joliet, was found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm in October.
Wallace shot and killed Hallie Parrish, who was with friends inside a vehicle in the 800 block of Robin Lane on the afternoon of March 1, 2006.
Wallace, who was wearing a black mask over his head at the time of the shooting, walked up to the passenger-side of the vehicle while firing a silver .45-caliber handgun. He fired at least nine rounds, several of which struck Parrish in the head and chest. Parrish was the driver; a passenger in the vehicle also was struck in the arm but survived the shooting.
“Corrie Wallace will spend the rest of his life in prison for this act of craven cowardice,” State’s Attorney Glasgow said. “This gutless killer gunned down a defenseless, unarmed man and then ran away leaving him to die. Only after he thought he had gotten away with murder did he return to the scene of the crime to brag about his callous exploits. The depraved boasting from his abandoned and malignant heart rightfully came back to convict him at trial.”
Circuit Judge Daniel Rozak said the shooting “could be more properly characterized as an assassination” before he sentenced Wallace to 45 years in prison for the first-degree murder charge. That sentence was automatically enhanced by 25 years because the jury found the defendant personally discharged the firearm during the murder. Judge Rozak also sentenced Wallace to an additional 18 years for aggravated battery with a firearm, bringing his total sentence to 88 years.
Under state sentencing regulations, Wallace must consecutively serve 100 percent of his murder sentence and 50 percent of his aggravated battery with a firearm sentence. Wallace will be eligible for parole in the year 2085, at which point he will be 101-years-old.
During the trial, witnesses placed Wallace at the scene. One witness saw Wallace return moments after the shooting wearing the same clothes he wore during the murder. Police recovered the mask Wallace wore during the shooting. DNA samples taken from the mask matched Wallace’s DNA. Ballistics evidence also linked him to the shooting.
Glasgow credited the thorough investigation by the Joliet Police Department and the skillful trial work of his prosecutors, Assistant State’s Attorneys Steve Platek and Michael Knick, for taking this dangerous killer off the streets.
“Joliet detectives and our prosecution team put in countless hours of work to make sure justice was served,” Glasgow said. “Scrupulous attention to detail, both on the streets and in the courtroom, left jurors absolutely no doubt that Corrie Wallace was guilty of this heinous murder.”