St. Charles club closes in wake of fatal shooting
Trilogy Lounge in St. Charles has closed its doors less than a week after a deadly shooting outside the nightclub.
One of the club's owners said Wednesday that the business, which opened about two months ago, has been shut down. The announcement came during a hearing where the St. Charles Liquor Control Commission was supposed to consider revoking the club's liquor license. The business relinquished the license on Tuesday night, a city attorney said.
A 23-year-old man Aurora man was killed and three other people were wounded shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday in front of Trilogy, which is in a strip mall at 2051 Lincoln Highway. Michael D. Carwell, 24, of Aurora, was arrested later that day and has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Bridget Liccardi, attorney for the club, told the liquor commissioners that her clients were "very upset" about what happened.
"This was an unforeseeable event," she said.
But, she said, it might not have happened if Trilogy had been allowed to have an armed security guard outside its doors.
Liccardi and David Brown, one of the club's owners, said the business, which opened in late April, had a guard posted outside for the first few weeks. The guard was an off-duty Cook County deputy, Brown said.
But the landlord told the club's owners that having security outside the building violated their lease.
Several people spoke at Wednesday morning's hearing.
John Versailles, who owns a nail salon next to the club, said patrons of the club had been "disrespectful" to nail salon customers.
According to Versailles, noise from the club had rattled the walls of his salon, and patrons littered the area with alcohol bottles and cigarette butts. However, Versailles said he and Brown had worked together to address the concerns.
He said he suspected the club's patrons would drink alcohol in the parking lot before entering the club.
"It just wasn't a good fit," said Versailles, adding the club catered to people from outside of St. Charles who would likely not be concerned about the neighborhood.
After the hearing, Brown said, "Trilogy appeals to everyone. It was not just a nightclub."
He said the club had held various events, including karaoke nights, Mother's and Father's Day brunches and live music by a reggae band.
"We did a lot of things," Brown said.