Judge: 2005 Aurora murder case to remain in adult court
The case of the 2005 murder of an Aurora substance abuse counselor won't return to juvenile court, a judge said Thursday.
Garang Deng, now 23, was 14 when prosecutors say he shot and killed Marilyn Bethell, 47. The Sudanese immigrant and former Waubonsie Valley High School student pleaded guilty in adult court and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
But an appellate court overturned the guilty plea and subsequent sentence last year. The appellate court voided the sentence because Deng faced a minimum of 45 years in prison if he fired the gun.
Deng has been moved from prison to the Kane County jail, where he is being held on $2 million bail.
Kane County Public Defender Kelli Childress argued to Judge Thomas Stanfa that prosecutors missed a step in a sentencing procedure in 2009 when Deng pleaded guilty.
Prosecutors, Childress argued, were required to file a motion within 10 days of Deng's guilty plea asking a judge to determine if Deng could be sentenced as an adult.
This step, required for defendants who were younger than 15 when the crime occurred, was not completed, leaving no solution other than moving the case back to juvenile court, Childress said.
"The time frame has passed and this court is without authorization to sentence (Deng as an adult)," she said.
Juvenile offenders cannot be imprisoned beyond age 21, so Deng theoretically could have been set free had the case been sent back to juvenile court.
DuPage and Kane County prosecutors worked together on the case, and Joe Ruggiero, chief of the criminal division at the DuPage state's attorney's office, argued the case should stay in adult court.
"We had a deal," Ruggiero said. "You can't just now say, 'We want part of the plea but we want to be sentenced somewhere else - in juvenile court.' That's not how it works.
"The defendant is over 21 years old right now. He can't go to juvenile court," he added. "This plea has been vacated. We are at square one right now."
Stanfa agreed with prosecutors, saying Deng can withdraw his guilty plea, but the case must remain in adult court.
Deng was accused of breaking into Bethell's home on Halloween 2005, leading her to a secluded area on the Illinois Prairie Path and shooting her in the head. Her body was found months later.
Deng is next due in court on Jan. 21.
Childress said she hopes by then Deng will either strike another deal with prosecutors or withdraw his guilty plea and head to trial.