State’s Attorney Glasgow announces 55-year sentence for shooter who gunned down unarmed man outside Joliet grocery store in 2010

June 16

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced today that a judge sentenced a Joliet man to 55 years in prison for gunning down an unarmed man outside a Joliet grocery store last year.

Christian D. Noel, 27, of the 100 block of Madonna, Joliet, was convicted of first-degree murder in March for shooting Conley Ratcliffe to death on February 26, 2010. Associate Judge Edward Burmila sentenced him on Friday.

Noel got into an argument with Ratcliffe outside the grocery store in the 1000 block of Woodruff. During the argument, the defendant pulled out a handgun prompting the victim to flee through a parking lot.

Noel fired multiple shots as the victim fled, striking him four times from behind. Ratcliffe fell to the ground, turned over and begged the defendant not to shoot him. Noel, however, continued to fire, shooting four to five more times while Ratcliffe was on the ground. In total, the victim sustained nine gunshot wounds, two of which were graze wounds.

“Christian Noel will spend the rest of his life in prison for this cold-blooded, execution-style murder,” State’s Attorney Glasgow said. “He is a ruthless killer who will no longer walk free to wreak deadly havoc on our streets.”

The State’s Attorney credited his prosecutors, Fred Harvey, James Long and Heather Meyers for securing a conviction and sentence that takes Noel off our streets. He also thanked the Joliet Police Department for its thorough investigation.