West Chicago teen sentenced to eight years in prison for violently beating an autistic man
GENEVA TOWNSHIP — Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser announced on Aug. 15 that Sebastian P. Kegebein, 17, has agreed to serve a sentence of eight years in the Illinois Department of Correction (IDOC) in exchange for a guilty plea to the offense of attempted first-degree murder, a Class X felony. Kane County Judge Sandra Parga accepted the plea deal.
Assistant State’s Attorney Debra Conforti told the court that on July 23, 2023, at approximately 7 p.m., Kane County Sheriff’s deputies and paramedics responded to a 9-1-1 call at 0N785 Old Kirk Road regarding a severely injured 19-year-old man who had been violently beaten.
The victim was autistic and posed no threat to Kegebein and his codefendant in the case, 19-year-old Jacob Berrera. Conforti alleged that on the night of the incident, Kegebein and Berrera began to mercilessly punch and kick the victim hundreds of times in the face, head, and body. In addition, the two suspects forcefully and repeatedly stomped on the victim’s head while the man laid on the ground in a fetal position trying to protect himself from their repeated blows.
When Kegebein and Berrera were finished with their violent attack, they high-fived each other in a congratulatory fashion and proceeded to leave their victim lying alone on the ground injured, bleeding, and motionless. Conforti stated that one of the individuals commented to the other, “He’s gonna die.”
The victim suffered life-threatening injuries, including an intracranial acute brain bleed, closed fracture of the nasal bone, laceration to the scalp requiring surgical repair, concussion, skull swelling, and multiple other injuries requiring him to be hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the hospital he was transported to. While the victim’s medical team was able to preserve his life, today, he continues to suffer from permanent brain damage, cognitive impairments, and seizures.
Per Illinois law, Kegebein must serve at least 85% of his prison sentence in which he will also receive credit for the 366 days he served while detained.
The case against Berrera is still pending. Due to Berrera having been 18 at the time of the offense, he was charged directly in adult court and has remained detained at the Kane County Adult Justice Center in St. Charles since July 2023.
“Kegebein was three days shy of his 16th birthday when he committed this heinous crime. Because of the extreme level of violence and inexcusable conduct on the part of the defendant, the state transferred this case to adult criminal court where the defendant could be held accountable by receiving a sentence that reflected the severity of the crime he committed,” said Conforti. “The decision he made on July 23, 2023, to beat an innocent, unsuspecting man who thought he was their friend, cost him eight years of his freedom. This case sends the message that any person who commits a violent crime in Kane County will be prosecuted to the fullest extent, regardless of their age, as public safety and justice for all victims remains our top priority.”
The charges against Berrera are not proof of guilt and his presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial in which it is the state’s burden to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
