Police and Courts

State Farm has denied the allegations of a federal lawsuit filed by two New York men who say they were fraudulently recruited into an agent training program and improperly denied employee benefits.

A Bloomington man with an extensive criminal record was convicted of murder Friday in the death of a police informant.

Police are investigating an armed robbery Monday afternoon at a convenience store in Bloomington’s southwest side.

About 60 law enforcement leaders from across the region gathered Monday at Heartland Community College to share data and intelligence.

Authorities are investigating an anonymous letter threatening the lives of anyone in line to receive state-funded pensions. The letter was mailed to several legislators and at least one public radio station. In big letters, the mailing says “Dead people can’t collect fat state pensions,” and goes on to warn lawmakers and union leaders of death by arson, strangulation or other unspecified means.

Prosecutors in the January death of an 8-year-old girl from Normal point to a consistent pattern of abuse under the eye of Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services.

Cynthia Marie Baker, also known as Cynthia Clay, was arrested on a warrant earlier this week for charges of murder, aggravated domestic battery, and domestic battery of a child in connection with the girl’s death.

A 41-year-old Normal woman was charged Wednesday with murder for allegedly kicking an 8-year-old and causing fatal injuries earlier this year.

Cynthia M. Baker, also known as Cynthia M. Clay, is charged with murder, aggravated battery of a child, and aggravated domestic battery. Authorities said Baker kicked the child in the abdomen, causing massive internal injuries. The child died Jan. 26 after being transported to a Peoria hospital, police said.

The prosecutors in Kirk Zimmerman’s murder trial Tuesday worked to break down Zimmerman’s alibi for the night of his ex-wife’s murder by calling Zimmerman’s girlfriend to the stand.

UPDATED 7 p.m. | Authorities said Thursday that a fire which killed five people at a Goodfield mobile home was intentionally set and that a juvenile suspect is being questioned.

UPDATED 4 p.m. | Four teenagers were arrested in connection with a fight that led to a stabbing Tuesday night at Miller Park, authorities said.

The Woodford County coroner says smoke inhalation killed three children and two adults in a weekend mobile home fire in Goodfield.

Jurors on Tuesday got their first look at Kirk Zimmerman in the hours after his ex-wife’s murder, as they watched video of his first interview with Bloomington Police detectives.

Prosecutors opened their case Monday against Kirk Zimmerman by telling jurors he was motivated by greed and hate for his ex-wife, Pamela, before fatally shooting her almost five years ago. His defense argued they were “happily divorced” and that stories of Zimmerman’s financial problems were overblown.

Authorities have rejected a teenager's claim that he is an Illinois boy who disappeared in 2011 at age 6.

Bloomington Police have joined a new online community that it hopes will help the public help them fight crime.

Survivors of sexual assault in Illinois will soon be able to monitor online the progress of DNA evidence related to their case.

A former county and federal prosecutor from the Quad Cities is now the first woman to become the chief federal judge for central Illinois.

An Illinois man faces federal murder charges in the shooting death of a sheriff's deputy that led to an hourslong standoff with police along Interstate 55 near Lincoln.

The suspect in a string of central Illinois burglaries was arrested Thursday after allegedly killing a sheriff's deputy in Rockford and leading police on a multicounty chase that ended with a six-hour standoff near Lincoln.

An Illinois study of racial profiling in police stops is set to expire in July. State lawmakers are considering whether to keep collecting data.

UPDATED 3:30 p.m. | A 65-year-old Ellsworth man was identified Monday as the driver killed in a single-vehicle crash near Moraine View State Park.

Illinois State Police made its second substantial cocaine seizure in McLean County in one week.

Three correctional officers at Pontiac prison face criminal charges after allegedly injuring an inmate earlier this month, authorities said Wednesday.

A 35-year-old Bloomington man faces drug-induced homicide charges for his role in an overdose death last year.

UPDATED 4:45 p.m. | Three people suffered minor injuries Tuesday after a vehicle plowed through the front of the Moe's restaurant in north Normal.

As a funeral home owner, Seon Williams has firsthand experience of the carnage gun violence leaves in its wake. As an activist, he knows the roots of the violence run deep.