One of two Quincy men charged in September stabbing gets new attorney, new trial date

QUINCY — One of two men charged in connection to a September 2023 stabbing in the parking lot at Blessing Hospital has a new attorney and a new trial date.

Heaton Brothers, 19, of 1842 Maple, appeared in Adams County Circuit Court Tuesday morning with attorney Dennis Woodworth before Judge Tad Brenner. Woodworth made his first appearance in the case. Don Heck filed a motion on Dec. 27 to withdraw as Brothers’ attorney.

Brothers has been charged with attempted murder, armed violence and aggravated battery after a Sept. 15 stabbing. His case had been on the February docket, but Brenner moved the case to the April jury docket, which begins April 1. A status hearing was set for March 5.

Dylan Test, 20, of 1530 Monroe appeared last week in Adams County Circuit Court with attorney Matthew Radefeld before Judge Tad Brenner. Test faces the same charges as Brothers does. He is scheduled to enter a plea when he returns to court on Feb. 27. Assistant State’s Attorney Josh Jones said during Test’s appearance on Jan. 16 that he and Matt Radefeld, Test’s attorney, were close to a negotiated plea. 

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 to 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 to 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.

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.