Crime and Courts

McLean County prosecutors call it an unprecedented time in their office.

New evidence in the 1998 death of 3-year-old Christina McNeil exonerates her father of murder charges, according to a petition filed on Tuesday by lawyers for Bart McNeil.

First Assistant Public Defender Ron Lewis is among 11 candidates who have filed applications to succeed former McLean County Public Defender Carla Barnes, who recently was named a circuit judge.

A former technology employee for the Blue Ridge Community School District in Farmer City has admitted to a computer parts fraud scheme in federal court.

Arthur Haynes says he is a rehabilitated man--a civic leader and entrepreneur, but someone who can’t run for elected office to represent his community because he still can’t get out from under court fines and fees that accumulated over 15 years.

When Carla Barnes closed a black robe around her shoulders for the first time on Thursday, she marked history as the first Black judge in the 11th Judicial Circuit.

The McLean County  judge who will determine a verdict in the June 2018 triple homicide on Bloomington's Riley Drive heard opening statements Monday in the case against Sydney Mays.

The pandemic has slowed programs in McLean County that help keep people out of prison and the county jail.

Michael Donavan, the county's court services director, said recovery court and drug court usually offer intensive therapy and other services, but they are not seeing as much use right now.

Federal prosecutors have charged two former employers of a central Illinois boat and watercraft dealership in an alleged $2 million fraud scheme.

Bloomington performing arts manager James Mack has posted bond following his arrest on a domestic battery charge.

UPDATED 11:40 a.m. | The Woodford County sheriff's department says the armed-and-dangerous suspect in a string of vehicle thefts was spotted Sunday in rural Secor. He remains at large.

Residents of the Twin Cities were subjected to a night of fear and anarchy when looting broke out earlier this year, a judge said on Friday, as he agreed to give one of the looters a chance on probation.

Illinois State Police seized more than five pounds of methamphetamine following a traffic stop Tuesday in Livingston County.

The hastily concluded investigation by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services into black eyes and bruises on a child who died weeks later of abuse is laid out in state records recently filed in a McLean County murder case.

After almost two years of waiting, Ann Simmons delivered a message Thursday to the woman who killed her daughter, 8-year-old Rica Rountree.

Eleventh Judicial Circuit Judge Scott Drazewski will retire Dec. 31 after 23 years on the bench, according to a statement Monday from Illinois State Supreme Court Justice Rita Garmin.

Seven of Aaron Parlier’s former piano students should be allowed to testify at the first of six jury trials the Bloomington man will face on charges accusing him of sexual assault and child pornography, a prosecutor argued on Friday.

The McLean County chapter of Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense is mourning the shooting death of a 20-year-old man Monday afternoon in west Bloomington.

McLean County Coroner Kathy Yoder has released the name of the Bloomington man who was shot and killed Monday afternoon in a west Bloomington neighborhood.

UPDATED 7:30 p.m. | A 20-year-old man was killed and two others were critically injured in a shooting Monday afternoon on Bloomington's west side, authorities said.

A Decatur man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for his part in the 2018 murder of a 20-year-old Bloomington man.

A Bloomington couple known for their community involvement say a weekend encounter with police and a seemingly hostile neighbor shows Bloomington-Normal still has plenty of work to do to bridge the racial divide.

Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner said Tuesday he hopes the arrests of nearly 20 people on looting and other charges stemming from this week's vandalism in Bloomington-Normal will curtail the crime spree.

The vandalism and looting that has hit Bloomington-Normal in recent days isn't limited to major retailers. Some of it has been happening in neighborhoods.