Second suspect in Blessing Hospital stabbing incident pleads not guilty during arraignment

QUINCY — One of two men charged in connection to a stabbing in the parking lot at Blessing Hospital pled not guilty during his arraignment Tuesday morning.

Dylan Test, 20, of 1530 Monroe appeared in Adams County Circuit Court with attorney Jen Kusmer before Judge Tad Brenner, according to court records. Test has been charged with attempted murder, armed violence and aggravated battery after a Sept. 15 stabbing.

A status hearing is scheduled for Dec. 12.

Heaton Brothers, 19, of 1842 Maple, another suspect in the stabbing incident, also was in court Tuesday morning for a status hearing.  Attorney Don Heck told Brenner during an Oct. 17 appearance he had received “seven or eight” DVDs with videos that Brothers had not seen. However, he told Brenner on Tuesday he could not view the DVDs. 

A status hearing is scheduled for Nov. 14.

Both men face one count of attempted murder for knowingly stabbing Tanner Bowen in the chest with a knife. If convicted of the Class X felony, each man could be sentenced for between six and 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. They must serve 85 percent of their sentence based on the truth in sentencing law.

Both men also face one count of armed violence for being armed with a switchblade longer than three inches, a Category II weapon, and committing the offense of aggravated battery by stabbing Bowen in the chest. If convicted of the Class X felony, they could be sentenced for between 10 and 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Both men also face one count of aggravated battery, a Class 3 felony. They face between two and five years in the DOC on that charge.

The Quincy Police Department reported officers found a male stabbing victim in the parking lot at Blessing Hospital, 1005 Broadway, around 11:15 p.m. Sept. 15. Surveillance video from Blessing Hospital allegedly shows Test and Brothers pinning the victim between two cars and attacking the man, with Test stabbing him in the chest.

Assistant State’s Attorney Josh Jones says Brothers is charged under an “accountability theory.” The law of accountability in Illinois states that a person is legally responsible for another person’s illegal conduct if “either before or during the commission of an offense, and with the intent to promote or facilitate that commission, he or she solicits, aids, abets, agrees or attempts to aid that other person in the planning or commission of the offense.”

Both men are lodged in the Adams County Jail.