A Round Lake man who fatally shot a Vietnam veteran inside his Fox Lake apartment was sentenced Thursday to 50 years in prison.
Azmi Ibrahim, 38, had been found guilty earlier this year of first-degree murder in the death of 77-year-old Roy Hoffman on Dec. 12, 2022.
Authorities said that on the night of the murder, Ibrahim drove a woman he knew to Hoffman’s apartment on Mineola Avenue for an arranged “romantic” encounter. After waiting in his car for a while, Hoffman entered the apartment carrying an AK-47-style rifle and ordered Hoffman to lie on the floor before shooting him.
At trial, Ibrahim testified that the woman had called him to say she was being sexually assaulted. But Lake County prosecutors said there was no evidence of that, and Judge Christopher Lombardo said he agreed.
“I do not believe, not at all, that (the woman) was being raped or was in harm’s way that night,” he said.
Instead, the judge said, the shooting was an example of Ibrahim’s history of acting impulsively when he was angry. When Ibrahim entered the apartment, Hoffman was naked and standing near his walker, the judge noted.
“He was literally the most vulnerable person imaginable at that moment,” Lombardo said.
Before he was sentenced, Ibrahim apologized to members of Hoffman’s family who were in court, and said he was praying for them and for forgiveness. He called the shooting an accident.
But Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Jeff Facklam said Ibrahim’s actions were deliberate.
“He had numerous opportunities to make different decisions that night,” Facklam told the judge.
A niece of the victim, Pamela Kemph, told the court that Hoffman has served in Vietnam, and after his return home he helped other veterans re-adjust to living in society.
Because of statutory sentencing laws for killing someone with a gun, Ibrahim faced a minimum 45-year sentence. He must serve 100% of his sentence, minus the 20 months he has spent in custody.
“This brutal murder with an assault weapon deserves our community’s loudest condemnation,” State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said. “We will continue to support the victim’s family as we also work with law enforcement and legislator stakeholders to limit high-risk individuals from accessing firearms.
“The Violent Crimes Unit continues to hold accountable the most dangerous offenders, and we take some satisfaction knowing that this particular individual will spend decades behind bars where he will not be able to hurt anyone in Lake County,” he said.
