Jury deliberating whether Round Lake Beach man shot twin boys in self-defense

Jurors deliberated late into the night Thursday on whether a Round Lake Beach man acted in self-defense when he shot 17-year-old twin brothers, killing one, during a confrontation about a stolen car on Route 12 near Volo on Jan. 3, 2021.

Lynell Glover is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Anthony Awad of Carol Stream. Anthony's identical twin, Jonathan Awad, also was shot three times.

Assistant State's Attorney Lauren Callinan argued Glover was the aggressor in the early morning encounter and a vigilante who took the law into his own hands.

Days before the shooting, the Awad brothers stole Glover's 2012 Chevrolet Camaro from the driveway of a family home. Prosecutors said when Glover found the 17-year-olds in his car on the side of the road that night he could have let the boys run away but instead shot them to keep them there.

“His only goal that night was to watch them get apprehended,” Callinan said during her closing argument to the jury Thursday. “That is not self-defense.”

Glover's attorney James Schwarzbach said there's no way Glover was a vigilante because he cooperated with police throughout and even was on the phone with 911 when the confrontation began.

“Who calls 911 if they're trying to kill someone?” Schwarzbach said. “He called 911 because he wanted those young men apprehended, that's what good people do.”

Each side had a different explanation of which person brought the gun to the encounter. Glover's wife testified earlier in the week that the gun was hers and that she put it in the glove compartment of the Camaro before it was stolen. Schwarzbach said one of the twins had it when Glover drove up and Glover had to fight for control of it before using the gun to shoot the boys in self-defense.

Prosecutors argued Glover had the gun on him when he arrived at the scene and shot them when the twins began to run.

The trial began last week but was delayed briefly because a juror contracted COVID-19. A second juror did not appear in court Thursday morning because of a sick family member. But since there were still 13 healthy jurors present Thursday, both sides agreed to proceed with the trial.

If found guilty, Glover could be punished with up to 60 years in prison.