Mother of stabbing victim rails against decision to dismiss murder charges
Kane County prosecutors Tuesday dropped murder charges against William C. Donald, who was charged with the stabbing death of Anthony Nunez, 21, in Elgin last October.
Prosecutors said new evidence showed the 18-year-old Donald, of the 600 block of Alice Place, Elgin, had been robbed by Nunez a month earlier and acted in self-defense when confronted by Nunez and two of his friends at Eagle/Burnidge Park on the 1800 block of Nachez Trace.
Prosecutors said Nunez in Oct. 27, 2014, intimidated three of Donald's friends into backing away before attacking Donald, who pulled a knife and stabbed Nunez several times.
"We are obligated, first and first and foremost, to seek justice," State's Attorney Joe McMahon said. "A review of this case revealed compelling evidence that William Donald was defending himself from an attack by Anthony Nunez. Once I reached that conclusion, it was clear that we cannot in good faith proceed with this prosecution."
Assistant State's Attorney Joe Cullen told Judge Clint Hull Tuesday the state was dropping the charges.
Donald, who had been on electronic home monitoring since December, was not in court.
Defense attorney Seth McClure declined to comment afterward.
Donald faced between 20 and 60 years in prison with no chance of early release if convicted.
McMahon offered his condolences to Nunez' family and said he spoke to them before his decision.
"We took this case very seriously," McMahon said. "A young man is dead, and we know how he died. It is not easy to walk away from such cases. But when the law is applied to the facts of this incident, the just decision is to dismiss the charges."
Peggy Nunez said Donald was the aggressor against her son, who was not armed.
She said Donald sold drugs in the neighborhood, wrote on Facebook that he had "murder on his mind" and that her son had special needs and was manipulated by his friends.
Peggy Nunez cited an Elgin police report that showed Donald concealed evidence from the stabbing and that her son was stabbed in the back.
"Is it self-defense when you stab someone in the back?" Peggy Nunez asked in a phone interview.
"All (Donald) had to say is, 'I have a knife, don't mess with me.' My son was not armed. (Donald) didn't retreat, he didn't try to run. (Donald) just started stabbing him," she continued. "That was not self-defense, it was murder. It's more force than was called for. He got away with murder, plain and simple."