Mother fights to find son's killer; Family posts wanted posters

Originally published Oct. 7, 2000

Some days Terry Kimble will stay in bed until dinnertime, thinking of her son's tragic murder and knowing that walking through the house will make her memories of him more painful.

Other days, she finds herself bursting into tears at the most random moments - driving in her car when she hears a song that reminds her of Matthew, or at the grocery store when the cashier asks her how many children she has and she doesn't know if she should count him.

Of all the days and nights in the past six months, not one has gone by that this brokenhearted mother hasn't thought of the April night her 19-year-old son was shot and killed at an Elgin party. And making that sadness more painful is anger that Matthew's suspected killer remains on the loose.

But rather than letting that anger consume her, the Elgin woman is using it as fuel to lead an effort to bring the killer to justice.

With the help of many friends, her husband and her other children, Terry Kimble is plastering the city with wanted posters and raising money for the reward fund that will pay $5,000 to anyone who provides police with information leading to the arrest of 18-year-old Roberto Vences of Gilberts, the man charged in the murder of Matthew Kimble on April 9.

"His one decision to carry a gun and shoot someone led to a lot of heartache for a lot of people. It's changed my life and destroyed a big part of it," Terry Kimble said, unsuccessfully struggling to hold back a stream of tears. "It's just not fair that he can shoot someone and just disappear.

"But I'm keeping my faith that he will be back to stand trial, and I hope the reward money will help."

The day after Kimble's death, Kane County prosecutors charged Vences, a reported gang member, with first-degree murder and has a warrant issued for his arrest. But Vences has disappeared and has not been seen.

According to police reports, Vences started arguing with one of Kimble's friends outside 275 Illinois Ave., Elgin, just before Vences pulled out a gun and started shooting. Two of Kimble's best friends suffered nonfatal gunshot wounds, but Kimble died almost immediately when one of the bullets struck him in the chest and pierced his heart.

Police said Kimble simply was a bystander who stepped in to try to help his friend.

"Someone knows where this boy is or someone (who) has seen him, and if reward money is what it takes for that person to come forward, that's fine with me," Terry Kimble said. "Who knows why he was carrying a gun in the first place, but he made a decision to shoot someone, and he needs to be accountable for what he did. You can't run rampant through the streets doing whatever you want and then run away. You just don't do that."

A few months ago, Terry Kimble and her husband, Richard, took $2,500 of their own money to start the Matt Kimble Memorial Fund - which since has been doubled through donations - and now they are reaching out to the community, asking more people to donate. They hope a larger reward will encourage someone who knows where Vences is to "listen to their conscience and go forward with the information."

In the latest effort to raise money for the fund, nearly 100 people Sunday will participate in the Matt Kimble Benefit Golf Tournament at Rolling Knolls Country Club in Elgin.

And with six months passed and still no clue as to Vences' whereabouts, Elgin police, too, are hoping the reward will provide them with new leads in their search.

"Hopefully, seeing this man's picture out there will remind people of this murder and that night, and maybe they'll remember something that can give us new information," Elgin police Sgt. Tom Linder said. "We certainly hope that anyone who knows where he is would come forward so we can find him and make the arrest."

Though the main purpose of the Matt Kimble Memorial Fund is to raise reward money, it also will fund scholarships for local youths in Kimble's name if extra money is received or if the reward is not paid out.

"I want to have this golf outing every year, and I want to give out scholarship's in Matt's name every year because I want to keep Matt's name alive," Terry Kimble said. "I don't want anybody to forget my oldest son."

She said she hopes people will continue to remember the Elgin High School graduate as she does - loyal to his friends and family, athletic, funny, and, overall, "a good kid."

Growing up on Elgin's east side, he played football on local teams, basketball in his driveway and first base for the Elgin American baseball team. He'd hit golf balls in the back yard with his dad and brother, play darts or dominoes in the house, or chess by himself on the computer. He liked to go out bowling with his friends on the weekends, and sometimes he just liked watching movies at home with his parents.

At the time of his murder, his parents say, Matthew Kimble was maturing, just starting to map out his adult life and figure out what to do in the coming years.

"As he got older I realized he was a lot like me, and we were just starting to be friends and move beyond the parent-child thing. I couldn't wait for him to have kids so I could spoil them rotten and listen to him complain about all the things they do that I used to complain about him doing," Terry Kimble said. "And I'll miss him being on the couch late at night watching the History Channel, and eating at weird hours and having all the canned goods he loved around the house."

Looking in Matthew's bedroom - where his baseball cards, Jimi Hendrix poster and unmade bed all remain the same as he left them - Terry Kimble says she most will miss the future because she knows her son will never be in it.

Still, she says, she and her family are trying to get on with life. She's back to working part-time and coaching her daughter's cheerleading squad, and Richard is coaching Drew's baseball team.

"Even though I'm not at all the same person I was six months ago, we're back in our routine and I know we have to keep living and not let this ruin our lives," she said. "And I do need to keep my faith in the system that (Vences) will stand trial. It won't end the sadness for us, and we still won't have Matthew anymore, but we need to close that part and know justice was served."