Randi Steele just wouldn’t stay away. The Winnebago County, Illinois man had been told by his ex-girlfriend to leave her alone. The courts had even ordered him not to get within 300 feet of her. 

But on September 23, 2022 Steele scaled a fence and dropped into his ex’s back yard. He smashed a glass patio door, and then made his way inside to hunt her down. 

When Steele approached the woman, she shot at Steele three times before he got the gun away from her. The woman grabbed another gun, but it misfired. She was able to use the gun to hit Steele in the head. The two continued fighting until Winnebago County deputies arrived on scene and got the woman to safety.

During the trial, the woman testified against Steele.

Following his release from prison, Steele will be on mandatory supervised release for 18 months. Steele will also get a little over two years of credit for time served, according to online court records.

The woman didn’t just shoot at Steele. She hit him with three rounds, but even though he was wounded he continued to attack her. Thankfully she was able to continue fighting him off until the sheriff’s deputies showed up and took Steele into custody. 

It took almost two years for Steele’s case to go to trial, but in July the victim finally had the chance to detail the terrifying encounter to the jury. 

According to Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley, on September 23rd, 2022, Steele climbed the backyard fence of the victim’s home in Machesney Park and broke in through the back door. Authorities said Steele hunted through the home until he found the woman, who was armed with a handgun in her bedroom. As Steele approached, she shot him three times and a struggle ensued over the firearm.

“The victim bravely testified at trial to the harrowing ordeal, and overcame the trauma of her attack in the presence of her abuser,” he said.

Steele was convicted of felony home invasion and violating a protective order, but jurors acquitted him of aggravated domestic battery causing great bodily harm and aggravated battery to a person over 60 years of age, which seems like an odd split decision to me. Unfortunately, there was little reporting on the trial itself, and it’s unclear why the jury convicted Steele of home invasion but absolved him of actually attacking the victim once he was inside the home. 

According to one account, Steele could have faced 30 years in prison for his conviction, so the 15-year sentence is lighter than what it could have been. Given the credit he’ll receive for being in jail while he awaited trial, that will get reduced to about 13 years, and Steele can shave off another 15% of his sentence if he stays out of trouble behind bars. 

I don’t like to see abusers like this get a light sentence, but Steele is still looking at spending the next decade in prison, which is a better outcome than we’ve seen in other recent cases involving abusers who won’t stay away until their victims fight back. 

Orders of protection can be useful in documenting continued abuse, but they’re also just a piece of paper and not a suit of armor if the subject of the protective order decides to disregard what the courts have told them. Steele’s victim did everything right: she had been in contact with police and the judicial system, she had a phone by her side so she could call 911 when he broke in, and she had a gun at the ready in case she needed to defend herself. Perhaps most importantly, when he continued to assault her after he’d been shot, she kept fighting. She didn’t give up, and now, two very long years after Steele invaded her home, she’s seen justice served.