By Benjamin Cox on April 14, 2021 at 11:25am
A man awaiting trial for a 2019 murder in Mt. Sterling is currently back in jail. 40 year old John M. Dean was arrested by Brown County Sheriff’s Deputies Monday night for an undisclosed reason surrounding his ongoing murder trial. According to court documents, due to a previous agreement with former Brown County States Attorney Mark Vincent and Dean’s attorney John Leonard, all filings in the case are impounded from public viewing.
Dean plead not guilty to one charge of first degree murder in the death of 44 year old Rebeccaa Niewohner in February of last year. Since then, the trial has gone through a series of delays due to COVID-19, attorney availability, and motions for additional disclosures to the defense in the case. Current Brown County States Attorney Michael Hill told KHQA today that no new evidence has been brought forth in the case and that Dean is due in court on Friday.
By Benjamin Cox on December 21, 2020 at 5:57pm
COVID-19 painted another grim picture across West Central Illinois this weekend.
The Morgan County Health Department reported 86 new cases today along with 5 additional deaths from over the weekend. The new deaths included 4 females in their 90s and one female in her 70s. All of the deceased were members of long-term care facilities. Morgan County currently has 296 active cases, with 13 of those remaining hospitalized. 316 people are currently in quarantine. Morgan County has now had 77 residents die due to the virus.
The Cass County Health Department is reporting 19 new cases of Covid in Cass County. Five individuals received positive Covid results over the weekend; an additional 14 positive tests were reported today. The active case count is at 120, with 7 hospitalized in Cass County.