Judge grants request for more info in Elgin car-ramming murder case

The defense will get a little more information about the state's murder case against Lacorbek Benion, who is accused of killing an Elgin man with a car and a baseball bat.

Judge Allen Anderson granted attorney Van Richards' request for a bill of particulars that specifically states how and why Benion, now 17, is accountable.

Richards argued that a March 23 indictment of his client was misleading. The first two of three counts allege that on Nov. 8, 2009, Benion hit 17-year-old John W. Keyes III of Elgin with a car, pinning him against the wall of an Elgin apartment building, then got out and hit him in the head twice with a baseball bat.

But police records and grand jury testimony indicate Benion wasn't the one driving the car, Richards argued. If the state is going to argue that Benion is responsible for the actions of whoever was driving the car, they need to say how, so the defense can prepare an argument against it, Richards said.

"They are saying he is responsible for his mother's acts," Richards said.

Benion's mother, Timera Branch, 34, of Streamwood, faces two counts of first-degree murder. Police say Branch and Lacorbek were driving around Elgin in separate cars, looking for Keyes, when Branch spotted him and struck him with a 1991 Chrysler Imperial in the 200 block of Center Street. This was a day after Keyes punched Benion at a party, in a dispute over a girl, relatives of Keyes have said.

Assistant Kane County State's Attorney Greg Sams argued that the defense had plenty of information about the case the state intends to argue, given that the state has turned over plenty of evidence, including 588 pages of police reports, 195 pages of grand jury testimony, five compact discs of statements and four DVDs of evidence and statements.

"The defendant is well aware of the allegations in this case, and what the state is going to argue," he said.

The bill will be presented at 9 a.m. Aug. 4.