Thursday, March 12, 2009 4:09 PM CDT
Man gets life for fatal shooting of Douglas deputy
By RON INGRAM, Staff Writer
DECATUR — A 28-year-old Chicago man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Macon County Circuit Court to one count of first-degree murder in the 2007 killing of Douglas County Chief Deputy Tommy Martin.
William B. Thompson received a sentence of life in prison from Associate Judge Timothy Steadman under the plea agreement his lawyers, Jeff Justice and Thomas Griffith of Decatur, reached with Douglas County State’s Attorney Kevin P. Nolan. The plea saved Thompson from possibly receiving the death penalty.
Co-defendant Yusef Kareem Brown is scheduled to have a hearing in May to determine if his case is ready for trial, Nolan said. Steadman likely will set a trial date at that time, he said.
Martin was responding to a report of a home invasion and robbery near Camargo when he radioed his dispatcher at 10:40 a.m. June 21, 2007, that he had spotted the suspects’ vehicle on a rural road north and east of Tuscola. At 10:41 a.m., Martin reported he had been shot. He was hit three times in the face and torso by bullets fired from a passing vehicle.
Taken to Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana, Martin underwent 10 surgeries over ensuing weeks but died July 17, 2007, from infection. Griffith said there was an issue over the cause of death but after the defense team reviewed 2,300 pages of Martin’s medical treatment records they concluded Martin’s gunshot wounds prevented him from recovering from the infection.
Martin was friends with judges in his home county and defense attorneys sought a substitution of judge that initially moved the case to DeWitt County. Nolan then filed for another substitution of judge and Steadman was appointed to hear the case.
Following Wednesday’s 90-minute hearing, Justice said the state’s evidence was so overwhelming that he and Griffith strongly recommended to Thompson that he accept the plea bargain that Nolan offered.
“I thank the sheriff and state’s attorney of Douglas County for offering us a plea that spared 12 citizens of this county from a terrible decision,” Justice said, speaking of the death penalty.
Douglas County Sheriff Charles McGrew and a number of his deputies sat through Wednesday’s proceeding. Afterward, McGrew said Nolan had consulted him about the pending plea agreement.
“It’s a just sentence,” McGrew said.
Asked about the plea agreement, Nolan acknowledged the cost to the county of prosecuting a death penalty case would have been high. He said state funds that previously would have helped the county offset that cost were used for other purposes last year by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and were no longer available.
“Cost wasn’t our first consideration, but it was a factor,” Nolan said.
Negotiations have not been active with Brown’s attorneys because he was focusing all his attention on Thompson’s case, Nolan said.
Other charges pending against Thompson were dismissed as part of the plea agreement. He and Brown were charged with numerous other crimes from their brief time in Douglas County prior to Martin being shot. The pair allegedly committed armed robbery, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated unlawful restraint, among other crimes.
The two men allegedly were fleeing south on Interstate 57 from Chicago where they may have been involved in the killing of Arnie Graves, 40, who was found stabbed and bludgeoned to death about 1 a.m. June 21, 2007, in his condominium. The pair was driving Graves’ beige Mercury van.
As part of his statement of facts in the case following Thompson’s guilty plea, Nolan said gunshot residue was found on Thompson’s right shirt sleeve and DNA obtained from blood on his clothing matched Graves’ DNA.
Martin’s son, Daniel, called the court from out of state during Wednesday’s proceeding and read a victim impact statement to Steadman.
Daniel Martin said his father served the state of Illinois for more than 20 years mostly as a crime scene investigator. He said after his father retired, he accepted the post of chief deputy in Douglas County.
“He loved his family,” Martin said. “He loved people and that is why he chose law enforcement.”
Martin’s daughter, Laura Pitts, read a statement to the court. She said she remained with her father in the hospital throughout his struggle for life, leaving the hospital only three times in 28 days.
“I felt my dad’s pain as he lay there,” she said. “I still feel the pain. My dad was a good law enforcement officer. He deserved a better end.”
Pitts said at her father’s funeral her 3-year-old son knew his grandfather was in the casket, looked at her and asked, “Why mommy?” She said the emotional trauma was so intense she could not return to work for three months and there still are things she hears on the radio or views in a movie that trigger fear, pain and emotional upheaval in her.
Speaking prior to Pitts’ statement, Thompson apologized to Martin’s family.
“I regret doing what I did,” Thompson said. “I was under a lot of pressure. My father was buried on June 20 (2007).”
Contact Ron Ingram at ringram@herald-review.com or 421-7973.
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slap63 wrote on Mar 12, 2009 9:43 AM: