MT. VERNON, IL — A 48-year-old Mt. Vernon man has been sentenced to nearly 30-years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a violent 2020 home invasion. Dontae Harris was sentenced Thursday to 28 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections with credit for 317 days served in the Jefferson County Jail.

Harris pleaded guilty in August to a Class X felony charge of home invasion resulting in bodily injury in exchange for a Class X armed robbery charge and two Class 2 felony charges for armed violence being dismissed. According to the Mt. Vernon Police Department, officers responded just before midnight November 12, to a residence in the 1500 block of Jones for a report of a female who had been beaten with a baseball bat. Officers located the female at the residence and transferred her care to paramedics on scene. The female was transported to a local hospital and then transferred to a St Louis Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Following an investigation, detectives arrested Harris in connection with the incident and transported him to the Jefferson County Jail.

At the time of his arrest, Harris was on parole from the Illinois Department of Corrections for a Jefferson County conviction for domestic battery. He has not yet completed the sentence in that case.