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Brother Remembers Slain Nailah Franklin at Murderer's Sentencing

By Erica Demarest | March 2, 2016 5:48pm | Updated on March 2, 2016 6:38pm
 John-Ashton Allen, 25, read a victim-impact statement Wednesday at Reginald Potts' sentencing hearing.
John-Ashton Allen, 25, read a victim-impact statement Wednesday at Reginald Potts' sentencing hearing.
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Chicago Tribune

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Nailah Franklin's younger brother said he regrets never getting to know his sister as an adult.

John-Ashton Allen, now 25, was a high school senior when Franklin went missing in September 2007. She turned up dead nine days later — her body naked and badly decomposed in a wooded area in suburban Calumet City.

Franklin's ex-boyfriend, 38-year-old Reginald Potts, was convicted of first-degree murder on Nov. 10. His sentencing hearing began Monday.

"I try to convince myself that over time wounds must heal, but I can't shake the feeling that I need something more than time," Allen said in court Wednesday as he read a victim-impact statement in front of Cook County Judge Thomas Gainer.

"I want to call [Nailah] for advice on how to deal with losing her," Allen said. "I want to take her on a trip .... to a lounge with mellow music and a hip atmosphere. ... Somewhere I could convince her that I was finally 'grown.'"

Reginald Potts (l.) was convicted of murdering Nailah Franklin (r.).

Allen was the first of Franklin's relatives to take the stand since Potts' multi-day sentencing hearing began Monday. Prosecutors have called on multiple law-enforcement officials to testify about Potts' lengthy criminal history.

The hearing is expected to continue Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.

Allen on Wednesday recalled a childhood Christmas during a "brutal Chicago winter." Allen, the youngest of his siblings, had received a lot of toys and wanted to play outside, he said. Everyone refused to accompany him — except Franklin.

"And not only did she go outside with me," Allen said, "she went all in. We ran, we tossed, we dove, we laughed. She sacrificed her hairdo for my Christmas wish."

Allen said he's experienced depression and anxiety since Franklin's murder. When Potts' trial finally began in late October — more than eight years after Franklin's disappearance — Allen said he was "shocked by how dispassionate" Potts was.

"The man who stood before me was unapologetic, arrogant, and still had the same ego that had caused him to do the unthinkable years prior," Allen said.

Reginald Potts listens to testimony Wednesday. Photo: Chicago Tribune

A jury found Potts guilty of first-degree murder on Nov. 10, following a 10-day trial and just two hours of deliberation.

According to prosecutors, Potts stalked, harassed and threatened Franklin in the weeks prior to her death. Neighbors spotted Potts skulking near Franklin's apartment, and Franklin's body was found behind a vacant video store owned by Potts' brother-in-law.

During the trial, prosecutors painted Potts as arrogant and narcissistic. They laid out for jurors his past history of domestic violence with other women, and shared several derogatory emails and voicemails Potts sent Franklin, a bubbly 28-year-old pharmaceutical rep.

RELATED: Nailah Franklin's Jilted Ex Vowed to 'Erase' Her Before Murder: Prosecutors

Franklin was last seen alive on Sept. 18, 2007, standing with Potts inside her University Village condo building. Prosecutors claim Potts murdered Franklin that day, dumped her body and stole her cellphone. Potts then texted responses to Franklin's incoming texts and voicemails to pretend she was still alive, prosecutors said.

Cellphone-tower pings show that Franklin's and Potts' phones were together on the afternoon and evening of Sept. 18, 2007 — traveling from the Near West Side to Calumet City and back.

The defense team was quick to point out that the state's case against Potts was purely circumstantial. There were neither eyewitness accounts nor physical evidence linking Potts to the murder, and Potts has long maintained his innocence.

Potts declined to testify during the trial.

John-Ashton Allen Victim Impact Statement

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