July 15

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced on Wednesday (July 15, 2009) that a Romeoville man who stabbed his 6-week-old child in the chest with a folding knife last year has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Miguel Villarreal, 26, of 1914 Cobblestone, Romeoville, was convicted May 7 of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery of a child at the conclusion of a three-day jury trial. Circuit Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak handed down the 20-year sentence.

During an argument with the child’s mother on Mother’s Day 2008, Villarreal locked himself in the bedroom with the baby. He stabbed the infant twice in the chest over the heart and then stabbed himself in the stomach in a murder-suicide attempt.

The stab wounds did not pierce the baby’s chest plate. The baby recovered from the attack, although the child’s chest will be scarred for life. Villarreal was rushed to the hospital and survived after the knife was removed from his stomach during emergency surgery.

“Miguel Villarreal committed the most loathsome and revulsive act imaginable against his own child,” State’s Attorney Glasgow said. “The most secure place for this innocent and defenseless baby should have been in his father’s arms. Instead of protecting his newborn son, this reprobate pulled out his knife and used it to perform a sadistic act of inconceivable savagery.”

When Romeoville detectives and paramedics arrived at the scene, they found the 15-pound infant covered in blood that they initially believed was from Villarreal’s self-inflicted knife wound. They immediately removed the child’s blood-stained Winnie the Pooh pajamas and found the stab wounds inflicted by his father.

Glasgow said top-notch trial work by Assistant State’s Attorneys Frank Byers and Jessica Colon-Sayre secured the conviction against Villarreal. He also praised Romeoville Police, particularly Detective Sgt. Ken Kroll, for a first-rate investigation.

Kroll followed Villarreal into surgery so that the knife could be placed into police custody immediately after it was removed from the defendant’s stomach.

“It’s this kind of attention to detail and procedure on the part of investigators that enables skilled prosecutors like Frank Byers and Jessica Colon-Sayre to prove their cases beyond a reasonable doubt when they go to trial,” Glasgow said.

June 29

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced Monday (June 29, 2009) that a man who shot a downstate woman and dumped her body on the side of Interstate 57 near Peotone has been sentenced to 85 years in prison.

Circuit Judge Daniel Rozak sentenced Delon Scott, 24, of Urbana, on Friday afternoon. Scott shot Cassondra Cawthon, of Champaign, three times and then dumped her body on the side of the highway on Oct. 8, 2007.

Cawthon, who was shot in the head and chest, was driving a vehicle in which Scott was a passenger when the shooting occurred. The vehicle veered off the road but did not crash. Several motorists on Interstate 57 witnessed the incident and called 911. Scott ran into a nearby field to dispose of the gun. By the time he returned, police already were on the scene, and he was arrested.

“Delon Scott is a cold-blooded murderer who gunned down an innocent woman at close range while she was driving her car. This act of ruthless violence and abject recklessness claimed the life of Cassondra Cawthon and jeopardized the safety of everyone on the highway,” State’s Attorney Glasgow said. “Judge Rozak’s strong sentence should bring a measure of justice to the victim’s family, and it guarantees that this depraved killer will spend the rest of his years in prison.”

The judge sentenced Scott to 60 years for the murder plus an additional 25 years for using a firearm to kill the victim. Scott must serve 100 percent of the sentence, which means he will be more than 100 years old before he is eligible for release.

Witnesses identified Scott as the man who had run from the vehicle. Investigators recovered the gun, a Colt .38 Detective Special, from the field. Ballistics tests linked the gun to one of the bullets retrieved from the victim’s body. In addition, blood from the victim was found on Scott’s pants.

During the trial, prosecutors played for the jury a videotaped interview of Scott during which he admitted to Illinois State Police special agents that he shot Cawthon. His motive was unclear.

Cawthon was heading home to Champaign after dropping off two of her children with one of the children’s godmother in Chicago. Scott was her traveling companion.

The state’s attorney applauded Assistant State’s Attorneys Jim Long, Adam Capelli and Daniel Walsh for their excellent trial work. He also praised Illinois State Police, Peotone Police and the Illinois State Police Crime Labs in Joliet and Chicago for conducting a first-rate investigation.

June 2

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced that a Joliet man was to 88 years in prison on Tuesday for gunning down an unarmed man three years ago.

Corrie Wallace, 25, of the 300 block of North Chicago Street, Joliet, was found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm in October. 

Wallace shot and killed Hallie Parrish, who was with friends inside a vehicle in the 800 block of Robin Lane on the afternoon of March 1, 2006.

Wallace, who was wearing a black mask over his head at the time of the shooting, walked up to the passenger-side of the vehicle while firing a silver .45-caliber handgun. He fired at least nine rounds, several of which struck Parrish in the head and chest. Parrish was the driver; a passenger in the vehicle also was struck in the arm but survived the shooting.

“Corrie Wallace will spend the rest of his life in prison for this act of craven cowardice,” State’s Attorney Glasgow said. “This gutless killer gunned down a defenseless, unarmed man and then ran away leaving him to die. Only after he thought he had gotten away with murder did he return to the scene of the crime to brag about his callous exploits. The depraved boasting from his abandoned and malignant heart rightfully came back to convict him at trial.”

Circuit Judge Daniel Rozak said the shooting “could be more properly characterized as an assassination” before he sentenced Wallace to 45 years in prison for the first-degree murder charge. That sentence was automatically enhanced by 25 years because the jury found the defendant personally discharged the firearm during the murder. Judge Rozak also sentenced Wallace to an additional 18 years for aggravated battery with a firearm, bringing his total sentence to 88 years.

Under state sentencing regulations, Wallace must consecutively serve 100 percent of his murder sentence and 50 percent of his aggravated battery with a firearm sentence. Wallace will be eligible for parole in the year 2085, at which point he will be 101-years-old.

During the trial, witnesses placed Wallace at the scene. One witness saw Wallace return moments after the shooting wearing the same clothes he wore during the murder. Police recovered the mask Wallace wore during the shooting. DNA samples taken from the mask matched Wallace’s DNA. Ballistics evidence also linked him to the shooting.

Glasgow credited the thorough investigation by the Joliet Police Department and the skillful trial work of his prosecutors, Assistant State’s Attorneys Steve Platek and Michael Knick, for taking this dangerous killer off the streets.

“Joliet detectives and our prosecution team put in countless hours of work to make sure justice was served,” Glasgow said. “Scrupulous attention to detail, both on the streets and in the courtroom, left jurors absolutely no doubt that Corrie Wallace was guilty of this heinous murder.”

May 26

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, Grundy County State’s Attorney Sheldon Sobol and Joliet Police Chief Fred Hayes announce that the Will/Grundy Major Crimes Task Force is ready to begin operations on June 1.

The new Major Crimes Task Force, which has been in the planning stages for nearly a year, is designed to direct critical police resources toward the investigation of a major crime, such as a mass shooting or a complex murder investigation, immediately after one occurs.

Thirty-six law enforcement agencies from throughout Will and Grundy counties as well as the FBI and the Illinois State Police will contribute staff and resources to the Task Force. From these agencies, 57 law enforcement officers, 14 of whom are crime scene technicians, will lend their skills and expertise to the new Task Force.

Bill Carlisle, a veteran detective from the Will County Sheriff’s Department, was selected by the Task Force’s Executive Board to serve as the Task Force’s commander. Carlisle has served with the Sheriff’s Department since 1986. He was appointed a sergeant in 1997 and a lieutenant in 2004. He is currently a lieutenant in the Sheriff’s Department’s Investigations Division.

Lieutenant Richard Demick, a veteran detective with the Joliet Police Department, will serve as the Task Force’s assistant commander. The Task Force’s Executive Board also named five division commanders: Ken Kroll, Scott Nicodemus, Jeffrey Lockard, Steven Talmontas and Richard Kowalski.

“Our goal is to direct as many police resources as possible toward an investigation immediately after a major crime is discovered,” said Joliet Police Chief Hayes, who chairs the Task Force’s Executive Board. “The first 48 hours are critical to these investigations. Once deployed, the Task Force will able to develop and follow up on leads quickly in an effort to bring an investigation to a swift and successful conclusion.”

Recent complex murder investigations in Will County prompted State’s Attorney Glasgow to begin coordinating with local police agencies to develop the Major Crimes Task Force. He noted, for example, that the Cook County-based South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force provided invaluable assistance to the Tinley Park Police Department after five women were shot to death inside a Lane Bryant store last year.

“The work the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force performed significantly expanded Tinley Park’s investigative capabilities and will be instrumental in bringing a dangerous killer to justice,” Glasgow said. “Launching and coordinating an investigation of such magnitude could easily overwhelm the largest police department in any jurisdiction. Our new law enforcement cooperative will place these expert resources into the hands of every police department in Will and Grundy counties.”

State’s Attorney Sobol said: “This kind of resource-sharing is necessary to enhance the ability of our law enforcement agencies to solve major crimes and to protect our citizens. This Task Force will dramatically improve the way criminal investigations are conducted in both Will and Grundy counties without creating a financial burden on any taxpayer-funded police department.”

Police chiefs in both Will and Grundy counties embraced the concept and formed an Executive Board that developed the structure and bylaws for the new Task Force, which will be funded through fees paid by participating police departments. Investigator salaries will be paid for by their own departments while they are assisting the Task Force. The Task Force, however, will provide equipment such as computers, uniforms and badges.

Participating law enforcement agencies are from Beecher, Bolingbrook, Braidwood, Channahon, Coal City, Crest Hill, Crete, Elwood, the FBI, Frankfort, the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office, the Grundy County State’s Attorney, the Illinois State Police, Joliet Junior College, Joliet, Lockport, Lockport Township, Manhattan, Minooka, Mokena, Monee, Morris, New Lenox, Peotone, Plainfield, Rockdale, Romeoville, Shorewood, Steger, Tinley Park, University Park, the Will County Coroner, the Will County Forest Preserve, the Will County Sheriff’s Office, the Will County State’s Attorney and Wilmington.