Springfield man facing murder charges in 2016 shooting was set to go to trial Monday. Why it was delayed
On the eve of the beginning of a murder trial from a 2016 shooting, a Sangamon County judge granted to the defense a motion to continue at a scheduled hearing Friday.
Demarco M. Jones' trial was set to begin Monday. The Springfield man is accused in the shooting death of 19-year-old Alaysia Bennett in the Georgetown Townhomes complex parking lot in the 2400 block of West Washington Street.
Chief Judge John M. "Mo" Madonia granted the continuance to Jones' attorneys, public defenders Craig Reiser and Tawnya Frioli.
The continuance was objected to by the state's attorney, represented Friday by assistants Derek Dion and Clark Johnson.
An earlier motion made by the defense to disqualify counsel was denied by Madonia.
The trial was continued to April 25.
Jones, 34, is facing two counts of first-degree murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm and attempted robbery.
One person involved in the case, Devante Taylor of Belleville, was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Taylor pleaded guilty but mentally ill to first-degree murder in early 2019.
The plea did not absolve Taylor of criminal responsibility in the case, nor did it affect the length of Taylor’s sentence.
A third man, Roderick R. Gailes of Springfield, is awaiting trial.
Jones was arrested on Oct. 14, 2017, after turning himself in to U.S. marshals.
Authorities said Bennett, a Lanphier High School graduate who worked at a Memorial Medical Center Express Care clinic, was in a vehicle with four other people, including an infant child, in the parking lot of the apartment complex the evening of Dec. 21, 2016.
After exiting a van, Taylor approached and pointed a gun at the vehicle in an attempted robbery. The driver of the car Bennett was in tried to flee and Taylor fired the gun, striking Bennett. Police have said Bennett was not the intended target.
Guilty plea
In a separate case, Kortez L. Brown-Joiner, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the July 10, 2017 fatal shooting of John Laprice Morgan at West Lake Apartments in the 100 block of West Lake Shore Drive in Springfield.
Brown-Joiner, 28, pleaded guilty before Sangamon County Associate Judge Rudolph Braud on March 16.
A second count of Unlawful Use of a Weapon by a Felon was dropped.
Brown-Joiner was represented by Marcus Schantz. Assistant Marybeth Rodgers appeared for the state.
Brown-Joiner will be sentenced on June 1.
Federal trial to begin Monday
Two former Western Illinois Correctional Center officers accused in the May 17, 2018 beating death of an inmate will stand trial in federal court in Springfield beginning Monday.
Related: Correctional officer pleads guilty in fatal 2018 assault of inmate at Brown County prison
Lt. Todd Scheffler, 52, of Mendon and Alex Banta, 29, of Quincy face 20 years to life behind bars if convicted of the death of 65-year-old Larry Earvin, an inmate from Chicago at the medium security facility which is 75 miles northwest of Springfield in Brown County.
Another officer, Sgt. Willie Hedden, 42, of Mt. Sterling, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deprive civil rights, deprivation of civil rights and conspiracy to engage in misleading conduct.
Earvin, who was serving a six-year sentence for a Cook County robbery and was scheduled to be paroled in September 2018.
Earvin sustained injuries that included broken ribs, a punctured colon and other internal injuries, according to a federal grand jury indictment.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Demarco Jones trial: Springfield IL man facing murder charges delayed
