August 4, 2026 — Both men convicted of a violent 2023 armed robbery inside a River North parking garage are back in prison—one following three years of pro se legal maneuvering, and the other after lasting just 54 days on parole.
The case stems from an incident in the early hours of April 21, 2023, inside the Grand Plaza parking facility at 21 West Ohio Street. Prosecutors revealed at recent hearings that three men emerged from a stairwell to confront two residents waiting for an elevator.
While Duran K. Gladney, 34, held one resident at gunpoint with a laser-sighted weapon, a third unidentified accomplice struggled to load an oversized drum magazine into his firearm. The distraction allowed the victim to shove Mitchell B. Davis, 55, and run. Davis fired a shot from seven feet away that narrowly missed the fleeing resident. Chicago Police officers cornered the getaway car at a garage exit minutes later, apprehending Davis and Gladney and recovering two handguns. The third suspect fled on foot, leaving live ammunition scattered on the garage floor.
Davis sentenced to 25 years after legal maneuvers
Davis’s legal gambits finally ran out on July 9, 2026, when Cook County Circuit Judge Kenneth Wadas sentenced him to 25 years in prison. Wadas had found Davis guilty at a September 2025 bench trial on charges of armed robbery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm, and aggravated unlawful restraint.
Facing a criminal record that included a 1997 conviction for attempted murder and home invasion, Davis had spent months firing counsel and demanding an immediate trial in a failed attempt to beat state DNA discovery. Wadas granted Davis credit for 1,176 days served in Cook County Jail. Under Illinois day-for-day sentencing rules, Davis is expected to serve roughly nine years remaining on his term.
Gladney returned to prison after 54 days
While Davis fought the court system, Gladney took a different path, pleading guilty to armed robbery in December 2023 and receiving a 10-year sentence.
According to Illinois Prisoner Review Board and police records, Gladney accumulated repeated GPS exclusion zone entries, curfew breaches, and domestic violence incidents in Peoria within weeks of his release. Following an active Order of Protection violation on May 25, Illinois Department of Corrections agents arrested Gladney on May 27.
The Prisoner Review Board officially revoked Gladney’s parole on June 18. He is currently held at the Western Illinois Correctional Center with a revised projected release date of February 1, 2027.
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