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Nailah Franklin's Killer Sentenced To Life In Prison Without Parole

By Erica Demarest | March 8, 2016 11:49am | Updated on March 8, 2016 4:47pm
 A Cook County judge on Tuesday sentenced Reginald Potts to life in prison without parole.
Reginald Potts
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COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Cook County judge on Tuesday sentenced Reginald Potts to life in prison without parole for the 2007 murder of Nailah Franklin.

"I know who you are, Mr. Potts," Judge Thomas V. Gainer Jr. said at a sentencing hearing Tuesday. "You are a cold, calculating, conniving coward of a con man who must be punished."

Potts, 38, was convicted last year of murdering Franklin, his one-time girlfriend. The 28-year-old pharmaceutical rep was missing for nine days before authorities found her body, naked and decomposed, behind Potts' brother-in-law's vacant video store. Prosecutors claim Potts stalked and harassed Franklin prior to her death — threatening in a voicemail to "erase" her.

"You did not erase her, Mr. Potts," Judge Gainer said Tuesday. "She lives on in the hearts and minds of all those who loved her and cherished her."

Gainer closed his remarks Tuesday by telling the sheriff's deputies accompanying Potts to "take him away."

"Finally justice is served," Franklin's mother, Maria Maner, said Tuesday in a letter that was read aloud by Franklin's sister, Lehia Franklin Acox. "The monster who took my daughter's life is sentenced. ... This monster is a wart that has been removed, finally, from the face of humanity."

Judge Thomas V. Gainer Jr. on Tuesday called Potts "a cold, calculating, conniving coward of a con man who must be punished." Photo: Chicago Tribune

Tuesday marked the end of a lengthy sentencing hearing that began Feb. 29. Prosecutors detailed for the court Potts' lengthy criminal history, which includes nine prior felony convictions. Judge Gainer estimates that Potts has been behind bars for most of his adult life, with just four accumulated years as a free man since 1996.

Potts on Friday addressed the court for 40 minutes, insisting he was innocent and "not a monster." Potts said he wouldn't apologize for a crime he didn't commit, but did ask Judge Gainer for mercy in the sentencing proceedings.

"I did not stalk Nailah. I did not murder Nailah. Period," Potts said before promising to appeal his conviction.

Judge Gainer on Tuesday slammed Potts' elocution. Gainer referenced Potts' trial, noting that multiple witnesses saw Potts skulking about Franklin's University Village condo building in the weeks prior to her death. Gainer also read an email that Franklin wrote Potts, asking him to leave her alone.

"He doesn't call this stalking?" Judge Gainer asked. "He's on her floor. He's in her garage one to two days before she goes missing — after he's been told she wants nothing to do with him."

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

Potts was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder on Nov. 10 after a 10-day trial and just two hours of deliberation. During the trial, prosecutors painted Potts as arrogant and narcissistic. They laid out a history of domestic violence against other women and shared derogatory emails and voicemails that Potts sent Franklin.

In her closing argument Friday, Assistant State's Attorney Maria McCarthy called Potts "an abuser and a liar" — "a danger to free people in society."

Assistant Public Defender Crystal Marchigiani asked for a lenient term, encouraging the judge to focus on law rather than "emotion or passion or opinion."

Franklin's relatives during the week-long sentencing hearing read victim-impact statements. Her mother, Maria Maner, lamented that "there was no body left for me to view — nothing for me to kiss or hold on to."

Sister Lehia Franklin Acox said she regrets that her two young daughters won't get to know their aunt: "She might have been their confidante, cheerleader, shopping buddy, co-conspirator in mischief and merriment, but they will never know. They will never know her."

Sister Ashlee Allen reads her victim-impact statement Thursday. Photo: Chicago Tribune

According to court testimony, 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 before dumping her body in suburban Calumet City and stealing her phone. Potts then pretended Franklin was still alive by texting responses to her incoming messages.

Cellphone data showed the pair's phones traveling together from Chicago to Calumet City and back again on Sept. 18, 2007.

Potts' attorneys were quick to point out that the state's case was purely circumstantial. There were neither eyewitnesses nor physical evidence linking Potts to the murder. Potts declined to testify during the trial.

For more information on the case, read:

• 'I Am Not A Monster,' Man Who Killed Nailah Franklin Says

• Nieces 'Will Never Know' Nailah Franklin: Family Pushes for Stiff Sentence

• Brother Remembers Slain Nailah Franklin at Murderer's Sentencing

• Reginald Potts Found Guilty of Murdering Nailah Franklin

• Nailah Franklin's Alleged Killer Threatened To Release Sex Tape, Emails Say

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

• After 8 Years, Reginald Potts to Stand Trial for Nailah Franklin Murder

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