Man charged with murder in St. Charles shooting as city cites nightclub
A previous version gave an incorrect time for Wednesday's liquor commission hearing.
An Aurora man has been charged with opening fire outside a St. Charles nightclub early Sunday morning, killing one person and injuring three others, while the St. Charles mayor has ordered the club to stop selling liquor, accusing it of failing to prevent patrons from "causing death and great bodily harm" to the public.
Michael D. Carwell, 22, of the 1900 block of Bayview, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and three counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, authorities announced Monday. He is being held at the Kane County jail on $3 million bail.
The Kane County state's attorney's office said 23-year-old Khalief McAllister of Aurora and a second person were leaving Trilogy, 2051 Lincoln Highway, around 2 a.m. when Carwell approached them in the parking lot. Carwell then pulled out a 9 mm handgun and fired shots at them, the office said.
McAllister was killed and three others were wounded.
McAllister and another victim were found by police on a sidewalk outside the club. They were taken to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva, where McAllister was pronounced dead.
Later, a third gunshot victim was brought to the hospital's emergency room by a friend.
Each of the surviving victims at Delnor underwent emergency surgery, police said. On Sunday, one was stable and the other was in critical condition.
A fourth gunshot victim was driven to Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora before being treated and released.
St. Charles Police Chief James Keegan did not return phone messages on Monday. On Sunday, Keegan said Trilogy has not had any issues since it opened in late April. The club has a special permit that allows it to operate until 2 a.m.
But St. Charles Mayor Lora Vitek announced Monday night that she has ordered Trilogy to stop selling alcoholic beverages. She issued a notice of violation to the club, and it will be addressed at a special liquor commission meeting at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The citation alleges the club did one or more of the following: Allowed a patron to exit with an open alcoholic beverage, sold or gave alcohol during a time it wasn't permitted, advertised or promoted giving away free alcoholic beverages, and operated in an unsafe manner that will hurt the community, "resulting from the failure of the licensee to prevent patrons of the licensed establishment from causing death and great bodily harm" to the public.
"I have cause to believe that continued sale of alcoholic liquor presents an imminent threat to the health and welfare of the City," the mayor's notice says.
The nightclub can stay open otherwise, the notice says.
Before Trilogy was issued a liquor license, Keegan told the city's liquor commission the club's business model concerned him because lounges attract "a large and young crowd," according to minutes from a March 15 meeting.
Keegan suggested the club get a late-night permit on a probationary basis. But it is not clear from city records whether aldermen approved his request.
On Monday, Trilogy co-owner David Brown said the "Trilogy family is deeply saddened" by what happened early Sunday morning.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims," Brown said via Facebook Messenger. "We will continue to cooperate with the St. Charles Police Department as this is still under investigation."
Meanwhile, the victim of the shooting was awaiting trial for attempted murder.
McAllister was facing charges of attempted murder, armed violence and aggravated discharge of a weapon in connection with an October 2017 shooting in DeKalb. McAllister and another man were accused of firing several shots into an occupied vehicle, injuring a 28-year-old woman.
The trial was due to start in October.
Liam Dixon, McAllister's attorney, said Monday that McAllister's family did not want to speak to the media.