Edith Brady-Lunny

McLean County's top prosecutor says "what happened in Minneapolis to George Floyd is in (no) way even close to appropriate."

Donald Whalen may have exceeded the legal and geographic bounds of the electronic monitoring device placed on his ankle after he was released from prison pending the outcome of his challenge to his murder conviction, according to testimony Friday from a court services official.

The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to hear exoneree Alan Beaman’s arguments in his bid to bring to a jury his claims against the Town of Normal and three of its retired police officers.

UPDATED 6:20 p.m. | A man from Normal accused of causing second-degree burns to a 10-year-old child with severe disabilities claimed Friday the girl's injuries may have come from bathing by her in-home nurse.

A dozen Clinton business owners have put local law enforcement and public health authorities on notice they intend to open their doors to the public within a week, despite Gov. JB Pritzker’s order that non-essential services in the state remain closed.

For two decades, Jamie Snow has fought his McLean County murder conviction, but his battle with an infectious disease that has killed 12 of his fellow inmates may pose the biggest threat to his life.

Snow is serving a life sentence at Stateville Correctional Center in the death of Bill Little, a clerk who was fatally shot behind the counter of a Bloomington gas station on Easter Sunday 1991. The Exoneration Project is representing Snow in his effort.

Bond will not be reduced for Don Whalen on charges that he violated terms of his electronic monitoring nine times, pending a ruling on whether he will get a new trial in the 1991 murder of his father.

The wheels of justice are turning at a slower pace in McLean County as police, judges and attorneys navigate the legal system during the coronavirus outbreak.

A LeRoy man who resigned his position with the University of Illinois Police Department after he was charged with official misconduct now faces criminal sexual assault charges.

A 10-year-old boy charged with murder in the April 2019 deaths of five people in a fire in Goodfield will continue to live with relatives while his case is pending, a Woodford County judge ruled Wednesday.

Sex offenders who have completed their sentences but are still being held in Illinois prisons should be released as part of the effort to reduce the state’s prison population during the COVID-19 crisis, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.

Defendants exonerated of crimes they did not commit serve an average of 13 years before their release from prison. In many cases, the stretch between conviction and exoneration lasts decades.

The pandemic has stretched across all 50 states. The novel coronavirus has hit major cities the hardest and spread slower in rural areas. But residents of small towns in central Illinois said they nonetheless worry about the likelihood of the pandemic striking their communities.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has forced restaurants to temporarily close, but the growers who provide chefs with fresh produce are still harvesting and putting food on the table.

Rural hospitals in central Illinois are ready to care for patients with COVID-19 symptoms, but demand so far has been low.

The number of inmates held at the McLean County jail dropped to 153 this week as most low-level offenders are processed on the street without a trip to jail, a move aimed to lower the risk of the coronavirus spreading to the county detention center.

The response to violence that has rocked places of worship across the country is the topic of a forum later this month in Normal.

Don Whalen should be returned to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence on murder charges in the 1991 death of his father, according to a motion filed Wednesday by McLean County prosecutors.

UPDATED 2:50 p.m. | The Fourth District Appellate Court has reversed a ruling allowing Don Whalen a new trial on murder charges and sent the case back to McLean County for further consideration.

Alan Beaman returned to the Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday in his ongoing pursuit of a jury trial against the Town of Normal and three former police officers involved in the 1993 murder investigation that led to his 12-year stint in prison before the state’s high court reversed his conviction.

Female soldiers share some of the same battlefields and challenges as their male counterparts but the contributions of women in the military have received faint recognition.

The father of an 8-year-old girl killed in 2019 by his girlfriend pleaded guilty Thursday to child endangerment.

The number of people in the U.S. now required to register as sex offenders is edging close to the one million mark.

A Bloomington man pleaded guilty Monday to failure to report a June crash that left a motorcyclist dead.

Andre Hursey is keenly aware that his life could have taken the same negative turn that short-circuited the lives of many of his peers.

For the 99,000 women incarcerated in U.S. prisons, the path to the criminal justice system is littered with broken relationships, physical and sexual abuse, and addiction.

On a day off from his 70-hour work week, David Cruz met with a tutor who helps him with language skills he hopes will bring him closer to his dream of a better job and U.S. citizenship.