Sean Grayson due in court for trial relocation hearing
PREVIOUSLY: IL Supreme Court rules to keep Sean Grayson in jail
Grayson's legal team previously filed a motion to move the trial out of Sangamon County, arguing that local news coverage of Massey's death would make it impossible to find an impartial jury.The former deputy is currently being held in the Macon County Jail.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
17 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Epstein's Work for Leon Black Should Face IRS Probe, Wyden Says
A key Senate Democrat broadened his attack on the Trump administration's handling of records about the financing of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking network, urging the Internal Revenue Service to investigate his tax and estate planning work for private equity titan Leon Black. Ron Wyden, the Senate Finance Committee's top Democrat, wrote Thursday to IRS Commissioner Billy Long to question why the agency had not audited at least $158 million in payments that Black made to Epstein between 2012 and 2017 for complex tax-related transactions. A spokesman for Black denied that he engaged in wrongdoing.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
A 4th man accused in a fatal dogpile outside a Milwaukee hotel pleads guilty to felony murder
The last of four Milwaukee hotel workers accused of killing a man by pinning him to the ground has pleaded guilty to being a party to felony murder. Former Hyatt Hotel security guard Todd Erickson entered the plea in connection with D'Vontaye Mitchell's death in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Thursday morning, online court records indicate. Erickson was set to go on trial on Aug. 11. He faces up to 15 years in prison when he's sentenced Sept. 3. His attorney, Kerri Cleghorn, didn't immediately return a voicemail left at her office. Erickson's plea moves a massive criminal case reminiscent of George Floyd's death a step closer to resolution. According to investigators, Mitchell ran into the Hyatt's lobby in June 2024 and went into the women's bathroom. Two women later told detectives that Mitchell tried to lock them in the bathroom. Security guard Brandon Turner pulled Mitchell out of the bathroom and together with a guest dragged him out of the lobby onto a hotel driveway. Turner, Erickson, bellhop Herbert Williamson and front desk worker Devin Johnson-Carson continued to struggle with Mitchell before taking him to the ground and piling on top of him, according to a criminal complaint. Hotel surveillance video shows Johnson-Carson holding Mitchell's legs while Erickson, Turner and Williamson held down his upper body. They kept him pinned for eight to nine minutes. By the time emergency responders arrived, Mitchell had stopped breathing. A medical examiner later determined that Mitchell was morbidly obese, suffered from heart disease, and had cocaine and methamphetamine in his system. The medical examiner concluded that he had suffocated and ruled his death a homicide. Attorneys for Mitchell's family have likened his death to the murder of Floyd, a Black man who died in 2020 after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for about nine minutes. Floyd's death sparked a national reckoning on racial relations. Mitchell was Black. Court records identify Erickson as white and Turner, Williamson and Johnson-Carson as Black. The four workers told investigators that Mitchell was strong and tried to bite Erickson, but they didn't mean to hurt him. Ambridge Hospitality, the company that manages the Hyatt, fired all four of them in July 2024. Turner, Williamson and Johnson-Carson were all charged with being a party to felony murder along with Erickson. Turner pleaded guilty to that count this past March. Williamson and Johnson-Carson both pleaded guilty to a reduced count of misdemeanor battery that same month. All three are set to be sentenced Sept. 3, the same day as Erickson.
3 hours ago
Nearly 200,000 kids play kitchens recalled after 1 reported death
Approximately 192,000 model play kitchen sets for children are being voluntarily recalled following one reported death. Backyard Kids, LLC and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall Thursday, saying the KidKraft Farm to Table Model Play Kitchen sets, manufactured by KidKraft, Inc., could pose a risk of strangulation and asphyxia if a child climbs on the toy set counter or crawls through the play set's opening in the back. The company noted that while the recall impacts 192,000 units, only 400 were actually "sold to consumers by Backyard Kids." "KidKraft, Inc. filed for bankruptcy in May 2024. Backyard Kids has agreed to a provide free replacement hooks to all consumers with affected units as a part of this recall," the company stated. According to Backyard Kids' recall announcement, children's clothing can get caught on the recalled play set's hooks, which are used to hold toy kitchen accessories "such as play pots and pans," and there is a risk of serious injury or death. Backyard Kids said a 23-month-old child reportedly died from strangulation and asphyxia after his shirt was caught on a hook on one of the KidKraft play kitchen sets in February 2023. The child had reportedly climbed and crawled through the play set's opening in the back where the toy kitchen accessories were attached and was unable to release himself. "Neither KidKraft, Inc. nor Backyard Kids have received any other reports of the hooks catching a child's garment or injuring a child," Backyard Kids stated. Recalled KidKraft Farm to Table Model Play Kitchens are black and light gray and feature countertops that look like wood. They measure 44 inches in length, 13 3/4 inches in width, and 43 inches high. The play kitchen sets, which were made in China, bear the model number 53411 on a sticker on the back. The play kitchens were intended for pretend play for children 3 years old and above. The recalled products were sold online on Amazon's and Walmart's websites, as well on KidKraft's website between 2018 and July 2025. The sets retailed between $120 and $270. Anyone with a recalled play kitchen set is advised to immediately stop using it, remove the set's original hooks and reach out to Backyard Kids for free replacement hooks. Backyard Kids can be reached via email at recall@ through the company's recall website, or via toll-free phone at (800) 882-0234 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.
