Serhonda Burnett, a 46-year-old Black woman from Oswego, Illinois, was killed on the afternoon of January 13, 2024. Around 4:49 p.m., 911 operators in Aurora, Illinois, began receiving calls about a vehicle crash and gunfire near the intersection of Prairie Street and Woodlawn Avenue. When officers arrived, they found Ms. Burnett inside a crashed vehicle. She was the only person in the car and was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Aurora Fire Department paramedics transported her to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead a short time later. An autopsy later confirmed her cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, and prosecutors stated she had suffered a total of 10.
Detectives with the Aurora Police Department investigated the homicide and identified Ms. Burnett’s recent domestic partner, Travares O. Mitchell, then 51, as the person responsible for her death.
According to evidence presented at trial, which included witness statements, surveillance video, and DNA from the car’s airbag, investigators determined that Mitchell had been driving the vehicle when he crashed it into a tree. He then got out of the driver’s seat, fired several shots through the driver’s side window at Ms. Burnett, and fled the scene on foot.
A warrant for Mitchell’s arrest was issued on February 21, 2024. He was located and taken into custody by law enforcement in Orlando, Florida, on March 6, 2024. After being transported back to Illinois, he was held at the Kane County Jail. The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Mitchell with four counts of first-degree murder, armed habitual criminal, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
On November 12, 2025, a Kane County jury convicted Travares Mitchell of first-degree murder and armed habitual criminal. In March 2026, a judge sentenced him to a total of 105 years in state prison for the murder of Serhonda Burnett.
