Josh Jones
QUINCY — Judge Mark Vincent denied a request for a continuance in the case of the former owner of a Quincy nightclub accused of assaulting a Quincy University student in April 2021. He then set Feb. 14 as the start of what is expected to be a four-day trial. Steven Homan appeared in Adams County…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — A Quincy woman facing four counts of first-degree murder after a 2020 accident killed four people has chosen to have a bench trial, which has been set for May 1-3. Natasha McBride, 39, appeared in Adams County Circuit Court on Tuesday morning with her attorney, Public Defender Todd Nelson, before Judge Tad Brenner.…
Read Full Article 
PLEASE READ THIS CAUTIONARY NOTE: Readers should understand this story contains descriptions of sexual abuse. This may offend and shock some readers or be painful to survivors of sexual abuse or assault. Muddy River News believes it is necessary to report this information as a warning and a reminder of what comprises sexual abuse and the importance of protecting children and supporting…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — A Springfield man defending himself in a November 2021 sexual assault case said last month he wanted to defend himself in two other felony cases, then told Judge Robert Adrian on Tuesday morning he was withdrawing his request. Bradley Yohn, 35, also said during his appearance in Adams County Circuit Court he’s waiting…
Read Full Article QUINCY — The Adams County State’s Attorney’s office will not file an appeal of last month’s Fourth District Appellate Court’s ruling, which upheld Judge Amy Lannerd’s ruling to dismiss a charge of aggravated driving under the influence by Natasha McBride in an Aug. 14, 2020, crash that killed four people. A status hearing on McBride’s…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — A Quincy man who allegedly recorded more than 200 videos of people in a locker room/restroom area without their permission while they were showering or changing clothes will have another 402 conference on Jan. 26. John Rokusek, 60, appeared in Adams County Circuit Court with his attorney, Denny Woodward, before Judge Mark Vincent.…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — While presenting 20 motions Wednesday during a nearly three-hour hearing in Adams County Circuit Court, a Springfield man defending himself in a November 2021 sexual assault case said he plans to move for a change of venue. While discussing a request for funds to pay for a polling service, Bradley Yohn, 35, told Judge…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — A Springfield man who is defending himself in a November 2021 sexual assault case decided Tuesday morning he now wants to defend himself in two other felony cases. Bradley Yohn, 35, appeared in Adams County Circuit Court before Judge Tad Brenner for a status hearing in two cases. He was charged Oct. 15 with…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — A Quincy man facing three counts of first-degree murder did not accept a plea deal on Friday, and his hopes of obtaining private counsel before his case goes to a jury next month is in question. Devere Gholston, 27, appeared in Adams County Circuit Court on Friday afternoon before Judge Debra Wellborn. Gholston…
Read Full Article QUINCY — The Fourth District Appellate Court upheld an April 1 ruling by Judge Amy Lannerd in which she dismissed a charge of aggravated driving under the influence by Natasha McBride of Quincy in an Aug. 14, 2020 crash that killed four people. The appellate court’s ruling was filed Monday. McBride allegedly ran a traffic…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — What started out as a simple status hearing and an opportunity to set a date for a hearing to review eight motions filed by Bradley Yohn ended with Yohn being escorted from an Adams County courtroom Wednesday morning yelling obscenities at Judge Roger Thomson, calling him a “piece of s**t.” Yohn, 35, is…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — Judge Debra Wellborn hadn’t heard much lately about the Devere Gholston case, so she took it upon herself to schedule a status hearing for Monday afternoon in Adams County Circuit Court. Gholston, 27, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of residential burglary and one count of robbery in…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — The trial for a Quincy man charged in a fatal Memorial Day crash in Quincy was placed on the jury docket for Jan. 9. Wike, 21, appeared in Adams County Circuit Court Tuesday morning before Judge Amy Lannerd. He is represented by Chief Public Defender Todd Nelson. Wike faces charges of reckless homicide,…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — Bradley Yohn of Springfield, who is preparing to defend himself against criminal sexual assault charges in a Nov. 2021 incident, was arraigned and pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to another felony charge he picked up Oct. 14 for allegedly threatening to kill a correctional officer in the Adams County Jail. Yohn, 35, appeared…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — After debating with Judge Roger Thomson about the start date of his jury trial in November, a frustrated Bradley Yohn abruptly stormed out of an Adams County courtroom Wednesday morning with help from several bailiffs and court security personnel. Yohn, a Springfield man charged with four Class X felonies in Adams County in…
Read Full Article 
Adams County Assistant State’s Attorney talks about the potential ramifications when no cash bail goes into effect in Illinois January 1. For background, Muddy River News ran this Capitol News Illinois story last month. There is also a forum discussing the Safe-T Act at John Wood Community College on October 19 at 6 p.m. hosted…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — Judge Roger Thomson appointed standby counsel for Bradley Yohn, a Springfield man charged with four Class X felonies in Adams County in connection with a Nov. 9, 2021 sexual assault case who is defending himself for a second time. Thomson selected public defender Todd Nelson, Yohn’s attorney from July 20 until Thomson dismissed…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — A Quincy woman received a five-year sentence to the Illinois Department of Corrections on Wednesday afternoon in Adams County Circuit Court. Caitlin Dietiker, 32, pled guilty to two charges of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance on July 13 in exchange for a prison term of no longer than 10 years. Judge Roger…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — Bradley Yohn is defending himself for a second time. The Springfield man, charged with four Class X felonies in Adams County in connection with a Nov. 9, 2021 sexual assault, filed a motion on Aug. 24 to claim public defender Todd Nelson has been ineffective as his counsel and asked to represent himself…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — Karen Blackledge sent a letter to the Adams County Circuit Clerk on July 27, saying her legal representation was “less than efficient and effective” and led her to agree May 5 to two 20-year sentences to the Illinois Department of Corrections. However, when Judge Amy Lannerd asked Friday during a motion hearing in…
Read Full Article QUINCY — Judge Amy Lannerd approved for public defender Todd Nelson to spend as much as $2,500 for an expert witness in the case against a Quincy man charged in a fatal Memorial Day crash. Breeden Wike, 20, appeared Thursday afternoon for a motion hearing in Adams County Circuit Court. He faces felony charges of…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — The Illinois Attorney General’s office has received the recordings of the closed sessions of the Adams County Board and Finance Committee meetings for May and acknowledged the board’s actions during those meetings were “improper”. In a statement e-mailed from the AG’s communications office Thursday afternoon: “We are pleased that Adams County has acknowledged…
Read Full Article 
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The Adams County Board’s Finance Committee went into closed session May 9 to discuss giving themselves raises and lay out a political strategy to deal with potential fallout from voters who might not approve of the action. These actions are not permitted under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. “The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of…
Read Full Article QUINCY — A Quincy woman pled guilty Wednesday afternoon in Adams County Circuit Court to two charges of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance in exchange for a prison term of no longer than 10 years. Dietiker, 22, was set to enter a plea on May 11 when her attorney, public defender Todd Nelson, told…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — Judge Michael Atterberry ruled Wednesday morning in Adams County Circuit Court the Adams County State’s Attorney’s office will no longer be allowed to participate in the prosecution of a Quincy man charged with first-degree murder. Travis Wiley, 34, appeared Wednesday morning before Atterberry. He was set to go to trial July 18 on…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — The trial of Bradley Yohn in Adams County Circuit Court on Tuesday morning started with Judge Roger Thomson addressing a series of motions filed by Yohn last week. It ended moments before jury selection was set to begin when Yohn told Thomson, “I can’t do this.” Thomson eventually set a July 6 hearing…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — A motion hearing in Adams County Circuit Court on Thursday afternoon in front of Judge Roger Thomson addressed motions by Bradley Yohn to bar evidence in other cases, suppress cell phone data and disclose discovery from the Adams County State’s Attorney’s office. However, the hearing eventually boiled down to legal pads, pens and…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — When Judge Roger Thomson asked Bradley Yohn if he would be ready for the first day of his trial on June 21, Yohn replied, “Oh, yes sir, most definitely.” Yohn is defending himself Pro Se against charges of carjacking and home invasion in Adams County filed in November 2021. He appeared in Adams…
Read Full Article QUINCY — Judge Amy Lannerd denied on Monday Chief Public Defender Todd Nelson’s motion seeking the release of Natasha McBride, who is charged in connection with a fatal 2020 traffic crash, from the Adams County Jail. Lannerd cleared the courtroom for approximately 30 minutes to discuss the motion with Nelson and Assistant State’s Attorney Josh Jones…
Read Full Article QUINCY — A hearing has been set for 3 p.m. March 18 to determine whether a charge of aggravated driving under the influence filed against Natasha L. McBride should be dismissed. McBride faces four counts of murder in connection to the Aug. 14, 2020, deaths of Jenniffer Hendricks, 54, of Rushville, and Dakota Corrick, 6,…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — The trial for a Quincy woman allegedly involved in a carjacking, kidnapping and burglary in November in Adams County has been pushed back to March. Karen Blackledge, 33, was in Adams County Circuit Court on Tuesday morning for what was expected to be a pretrial hearing. However, Josh Jones, lead trial attorney for…
Read Full Article QUINCY — The trial of a Quincy woman charged in connection with the 2020 crash that killed four people has been moved to April. Public Defender Todd Nelson filed a motion on Wednesday in Adams County Circuit Court to continue the case against Natasha McBride, 37. She faces four counts of murder in connection to…
Read Full Article QUINCY — A pre-trial hearing date for a Quincy woman facing four murder charges remains unchanged, but a report from a Chicago psychiatrist could change that. Judge Scott Larson ruled Friday afternoon in Adams County Circuit Court that he would grant Josh Jones, lead trial attorney for the Adams County State’s Attorney’s office, more time…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — Judge Bob Adrian threw Josh Jones, lead trial attorney for the Adams County State’s Attorney’s office, out of his courtroom Wednesday morning for a “comment” Jones recently made on social media. Jones and Adrian were in courtroom 1B for status hearings on a series of felony cases in Adams County Circuit Court. After…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — A St. Louis man was sentenced to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to throwing a cat against a wall in 2018, recording it and sending the video to his wife. Trevor Moncrief, 35, was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals. He was living in Quincy when the…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — A motion to suppress evidence obtained from a cellphone was denied by Judge Bob Adrian during a hearing Thursday morning in the first-degree murder case for Travis Wiley in Adams County Circuit Court. A pretrial hearing for Wiley’s case has been set for Oct. 18, with jury selection set to begin Oct. 25. …
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — A date has been tentatively set for the trial of a Quincy nightclub owner charged with one count of aggravated battery in the reported assault of a female student at Quincy University. Judge Amy Lannerd set the date for the trial of Steven W. Homan, 47, for Jan. 10, 2022. during a status…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — Roger Parker Jr., who claimed he grew tired of being bullied by Darrell “D.J.” Kelley Jr. and shot him to death on Sept. 26, 2019, was sentenced to 20 years on Friday morning in an Adams County courtroom. Parker, 18, pled guilty in May to one count of second-degree murder. He was 16…
Read Full Article 
QUINCY — When Keith W. Young III entered Courtroom 2B of the Adams County Courthouse on Thursday afternoon, the first thing he did was ask a bailiff for hand sanitizer. “I haven’t showered in three days,” Young told the bailiff through a blue-paper mask. “They got me on suicide watch …” Then Young muttered something…
Read Full Article