Deadline set for death penalty decision

The Cook County States Attorney has until Nov. 5 to decide whether to seek the death penalty in the case of Clinton Johnson, 23, who was a U.S. Marine in North Carolina when he was extradited on a charge in May of first degree murder in the 2008 shooting death of Joseph Ziegler, 19, of Hoffman Estates.

A decision on whether to seek the death penalty for co-defendant Matthew Zucco, 21, of the 8000 block of South Applewood Court in Hanover Park is due Sept. 25. Police say the two men intended to rob Ziegler when they entered his home in September of 2008, but Zucco put the victim in a chokehold and shot him in the head.

The two appeared in Cook County Circuit Court in Rolling Meadows Tuesday, and their next appearance will be July 28. Police made the arrests after obtaining new information on the case as a result of April's Northwest suburban Dial-A-Rock drug sweep.

Johnson's last local address was in the 100 block of Crestwood Drive in Streamwood.