A Chicago man who authorities say beat an amputee to death while attempting to collect a $600 cocaine debt during a home invasion in Edgewater has been sentenced to 12 years in prison, but he will not spend a single day.
Ronald Armour, 53, was released from the Illinois Department of Corrections on October 3, the same day he arrived, after receiving credit for more than three years in Cook County Jail awaiting trial, as well as a standard 50% sentence reduction for good behavior, according to court and state prison records.
Armour was initially charged with murder and several felonies for the July 2021 attack at an apartment in the 6000 block of North Kenmore Avenue. He concluded the case by pleading guilty to causing bodily injury during a home invasion, a Class X felony, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison by Judge James Novy, according to court documents.
According to prosecutors, Armour was a drug dealer known as “Ziploc” who kicked down the victims’ home door at about 11:40 a.m. on July 1, 2021, after they failed to answer his knocks. He allegedly discovered the two guys, aged 63 and 53, lying in bed together and began striking them in the face and head.
The elderly man escaped, although he sustained facial injuries, including shattered teeth and an eye injury. Prosecutors said the younger man, Darren Williams, could not leave since he only had one leg. While the medical examiner declared his death a homicide, the office also stated that his major cause of death was heart disease, with blunt force head injuries and cocaine intoxication as contributing factors, according to public records.
Prosecutors claimed the two victims had been buying cocaine from Armour for several years and had texted him to pledge repayment of a $600 debt. Following the incident, the surviving victim called 911 and informed police that a man named “Ziploc” was to blame, even providing Armour’s phone number.
While the victim was being treated in a hospital, Armour allegedly texted him again, saying he was outside their apartment building and wondering why the cops were there. Prosecutors claimed he continued to send messages seeking payments.
Armour had prior felony convictions for narcotics possession, delivery, running and eluding police, and DUI dating, but court records show that this was his first conviction for a violent offense.
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