Sanity hearing closes for man accused of trying to murder Bensenville police officer

The fate of a man accused of trying to kill a Bensenville police officer is in the hands of a DuPage County judge, after attorneys Tuesday finished arguing whether the suspect was legally insane at the time.

Judge Joseph Bugos has to decide whether Kiante Tyler, 25, should be acquitted of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery charges; found not guilty by reason of insanity; or found not not guilty and have his case remain open.

Tyler is accused of opening fire on officer Steven Kotlewski shortly before 1 a.m. Nov. 6, 2021, at the Bensenville apartment where the suspect lived with his mother and younger sister.

The mother had called police asking them to remove Tyler from the apartment.

“(Kotlewski) was unaware that this was the last call he would ever respond to as a police officer,” Assistant DuPage County State’s Attorney Helen Kapas said Tuesday.

Nine bullets tore through Kotlewski’s legs, abdomen, chest and an arm. Another lodged in the back of his bullet-resistant vest. The bullets broke both his thigh bones and a forearm, shredded a femoral artery, and damaged a lung, his colon, his liver, his lower back and pelvis, Kapas said.

Tyler’s attorney, Assistant DuPage County Public Defender Jennifer Maples, argued prosecutors did not prove Tyler intended to kill Kotlewski without legal justification. She asked that Tyler be acquitted.

If the judge believes Tyler did intend to kill Kotlewski without justification, Maples asked he be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Maples argued her client suffered a psychotic break and was living in an alternate reality in which Kotlewski was there to rape Tyler’s mother and younger sister.

Kotlewski was shot moments after he greeted Tyler in the apartment, authorities said.

“He genuinely held, unfortunately unreasonably, that he had fear for his life and fear for the lives of the women he loved,” Maples said. After the shooting Tyler put the gun on a kitchen counter instead of hiding it, a sign that he thought he was justified, she added.

State’s Attorney Robert Berlin argued that other evidence contradicts claims Tyler was unable to understand the criminality of his actions.

He also noted that none of the psychiatrists who have evaluated or treated Tyler have said he was insane at the moment of the shooting.

Bugos will announce his decision Jan. 13.

If Tyler is found not not guilty, his case would be continued while mental health providers try to restore his fitness to stand trial. If he is found not guilty by reason of insanity, the judge would then determine whether Tyler should be committed.