Schaumburg 84-year-old pleads not guilty in son's shooting death
William Karras, charged with the June shooting death of his son Nick Karras in Nick's Schaumburg home, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder Monday in Rolling Meadows.
The 84-year-old is being held without bail at Cook County jail's medical facility, Cermak Health Services. If convicted, he faces a minimum prison sentence of 45 years and a maximum sentence of life.
Karras appeared in court wearing a dark knit cap and seated in a wheelchair.
William Karras moved in with his son in May after his wife became ill and the family began the process of selling the couple's home, prosecutors said. They say the elder Karras and his son argued over finances and the home's upkeep. The day of the shooting, Nick Karras reportedly told his father he could no longer live in the house, prosecutors said during William Karras' bond hearing last month. They say William Karras retrieved a loaded handgun from under his pillow and returned to the kitchen, where his son was preparing dinner with his back toward his father.
Authorities say William Karras shot his son in the back of the head and in the left cheek from about 3 or 4 feet away.
After his arrest, authorities said, William Karras called one of his daughters and told her he shot Nick Karras "because he was fed up."
After the hearing, defense attorney William Woolf said he will make sure his client receives justice.
"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure he gets a fair trial," Woolf said, adding that what prosecutors proffer at a bond hearing is not evidence.
Karras next appears in court on Aug. 14.