Yang's bid for new sentence denied, appeal to come

The Lake County judge who sentenced Marni Yang to life in prison for the killings of a Deerfield woman and that woman's unborn child said Monday he would not impose a lighter term.

Yang's attorney's had filed the motion to reconsider the sentence as the final required step before appealing Yang's conviction and sentence for the Oct. 4, 2007 slaying.

A jury in March convicted Yang of first-degree murder and intentional homicide of an unborn child charges alleging she fired several shots from a 9 mm pistol at Rhoni Reuter, 42, as the victim opened the door to her Deerfield condominium.

Prosecutors said Yang, 43, killed the pair because she was jealous of Reuter's relationship with former Chicago Bears safety Shaun Gayle, the father of Reuter's unborn daughter. Gayle testified at trial that he had a business relationship with Yang that occasionally featured sex, but had no intention of abandoning his relationship with Reuter in favor of the Chicago woman.

Yang's attorney's argued Monday that a sentence of life in prison was excessive for the crimes, and also said Assistant State's Attorney Patricia Fix erred by calling Yang a “sociopath” during a May 20 sentencing hearing.

But Associate Judge Christopher Stride ruled that Fix had not overstepped the bounds of reasonable argument and that the sentence was not excessive. Yang's attorney's said they will now file an appeal with the 2nd District Appellate Court in Elgin.