Trial set for Springfield man accused of murdering Parkway Pub owner and operator

The murder trial of the Springfield man charged with battering the owner and operator of Parkway Pub on New Year's Eve 2021 is set to begin Monday morning.

Dalton C. McDermott, 28, of the 3300 block of East Enos Street, faces first-degree murder along with four counts of aggravated battery in the death of Angelo A. Manci Jr., 80, also of Springfield.

Manci died at HSHS St. John's Hospital two weeks after the attack.

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Jury selection is set to begin Monday. The case will be tried before Sangamon County Chief Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin.

Sangamon County sheriff's deputies were called to Parkway Pub, in the 300 block of North Dirksen Parkway, just after 11 p.m. on New Year's Eve 2021.

A bar employee had reported a man, later identified as Manci, had been battered and was on the ground outside the bar.

McDermott also was charged with attacking another man in his 50s, who suffered minor injuries.

McDermott was arrested at a motel in the 3100 block of Wide Track Drive, off South Dirksen Parkway the day before Manci's passing.

According to State Journal-Register files, Manci was the former owner of Roadhouse Package Liquor, the Port Hole Lounge and The Sandbar.

Manci also did delivery with E.L. Schafer and Son, a Budweiser distributor in Springfield.

The Manci family, including the late Angelo Manci Sr. and Henry Manci, Angelo Manci Jr.'s brother, have been in the local tavern business in Springfield for nearly 70 years.

McDermott is represented Sarah Noll and Daniel Noll. Mary Beth Rodgers, Chief of the Felony Division for the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office, is the first chair for the state.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: The jury trial for a man accused of murdering a Springfield bar owner begins Monday