Trial continued for man accused in DCFS worker's death as state seeks mental health records

Zach Roth, Springfield State Journal- Register
Updated ·2 min read
Judge's gavel

The trial of a Thayer man accused of killing a Department of Children and Family Services worker at his home has been delayed to Jan. 29 after the Sangamon County State's Attorney's Office sought more time to obtain mental health records.

Benjamin H. Reed, 34, is accused of killing Deidre Silas, a DCFS case worker, during an incident on Jan. 4, 2022, at his home in the 300 block of West Elm Street. Silas was checking the welfare of six small children.

Reed was scheduled to go to trial for first-degree murder on Jan. 8 but the state's attorney's office requested a delay to wait on Reed's mental health records subpoenaed from area hospitals and institutions.

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Assistant State's Attorney Kendra Hansel said during a hearing Wednesday that responses had been received from Packard Mental Health Center in Springfield and Heritage Behavioral Health Center in Decatur but reports from HSHS St. John's Hospital in Springfield and HSHS St. Mary's Hospital in Decatur had yet to be returned.

They had also been working to get testing through a local psychologist to determine the state of Reed's mental health, something that needed to be done via court order.

All of this came about as the result of Reed and his counsel, defense attorney Mark Wykoff, filing notice that they intended to call Terry Killian, a psychologist, as an expert witness to speak to Reed's mental state at the time of the incident. The state's motion to continue the trial states that rebuttal witnesses have been contacted to match Killian's potential testimony.

Wykoff said that while he was willing to go with whatever Circuit Judge John Madonia decided, he was concerned because he felt the state was implying through the attempt of further testing that Reed had been making up the claims of mental health issues. He said that records showed that no psychiatrist working with Reed from when he was 15 years old felt that he was making up the claims.

Madonia acknowledged Wykoff's point but granted the state's motion.

The next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 29 at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 7C at the Sangamon County Complex. The start date of the trial remains undetermined.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Trial of man accused of killing DFCS worker continued to Jan. 29