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Eric Stock / WGLT McLean County prosecutors call it an unprecedented time in their office. They have tried 10 murder defendants in less than two years. The last nine defendants were convicted. McLean County State s Attorney Don Knapp said he hopes the convictions have a chilling effect on crime in Bloomington-Normal. “If people haven’t figured out what happens to folks that want to use violence and usually illegal guns to settle disputes, I don’t know how much plainer we can make it,” Knapp said. Knapp called a news conference Tuesday and assembled his prosecutors who tried those cases and local police who investigated the cases to detail how they have managed the multitude of high-profile murders. ....
David Proeber / The Pantagraph (Pool) A judge found Sydney Mays guilty Wednesday of fatally wounding three men and critically injuring a child during a 2018 shooting in Bloomington. Mays had no reaction when Judge Casey Costigan delivered his decision that followed a six-day bench trial. The decision was delivered in a 45-minute ruling. The 24-year-old defendant was convicted of killing Nate Pena and Corey Jackson, both 22, and Juan Carlos Perez, 33, in what police contend was a drug-related robbery by Mays. Prosecutors argued during the trial that Mays set his sights on robbing Pena and Jackson after he saw a Snapchat photo posted by Jackson of a large amount of cash. Mays went to Pena’s apartment on June 18, 2018, where he allegedly shot the two men and wounded Pena’s 4-year-old son who survived, but who is paralyzed as a result of his injuries. ....
Eric Stock / WGLT Law enforcement officials and prosecutors said they feel blindsided by a massive criminal justice reform bill introduced by the Black Democratic Caucus in the Illinois House, with police saying they are shocked and surprised at the timing and sweeping scope of the measure. After what had happened in Minneapolis, we were certainly very vocal as law enforcement leaders about wanting to look at change and be involved in change, said Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner. Bleichner said police advocates were not an equal player in developing the package. On Friday, the bill dropped without a lot of previous discussion. McLean County State s Attorney Don Knapp said a lack of debate on legislation is a good way to create unintended consequences. ....
The number of felony methamphetamine cases in McLean County continued its multiyear rise last year. Felony drug cases in McLean County rose by 32% last year to a record high, though the five-year trend is not as stark as the one-year jump. State s Attorney Don Knapp said a lot of the increase came from methamphetamine offenses. Judge (William)Yoder has said, I ve seen more cases in my courtroom in the last year than in the 12 years I was state s attorney, said Knapp. Meth cases accounted for 40% of all drug felonies last year in McLean County. Five years ago, the figure was 10%. ....
Donald Whalen is headed back to the Department of Corrections to complete the 30 years he must serve in the 1991 stabbing death of his father, the latest in a roller coaster ride of legal developments that swerved dramatically against Whalen on Tuesday after a judge reversed an earlier ruling granting Whalen a new trial. With the 28 years he was in prison, Donald Whalen may be within weeks of release. Credit IDOC Judge Scott Drazewski ruled in 2019 that Whalen was entitled to a new trial, based in part on new DNA evidence related a pool cue found near William Whalen’s body hours after he was beaten to death at the bar he owned in downtown Bloomington. ....