Current:Home > ScamsMan is found fit to go on trial in attacks that killed 4 in Rockford, Illinois-LoTradeCoin
Man is found fit to go on trial in attacks that killed 4 in Rockford, Illinois
View Date:2024-12-23 19:35:19
ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A man was found fit Thursday to stand trial on charges of killing four people and injuring seven others during a series of frenzied attacks in a neighborhood in Rockford, Illinois.
The judge had ordered a psychiatric evaluation in April for Christian Soto, 22, who is accused of stabbing, beating or driving over the victims in March. He is charged with first-degree murder and other counts.
Winnebago County Judge Debra Schafer said Thursday at Soto’s arraignment hearing that she had reviewed a doctor’s finding that he was fit for trial and said she agreed.
Soto’s attorney, Glenn Jazwiec, said his client was waiving a formal reading of the charges and pleading not guilty. Schafer ordered him to remain detained and set a July 24 status hearing for Soto, who appeared in court by video link.
He is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder and home invasion with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors allege he killed Romona Schupbach, 63; Jacob Schupbach, 23; Jay Larson, 49; and Jenna Newcomb, 15, in the March 27 attacks in Rockford, a city of over 140,000 about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northwest of Chicago.
Authorities have said they haven’t determined a motive.
Winnebago County prosecutor J. Hanley has said Soto told police he had smoked marijuana with Jacob Schupbach and believed the drugs “were laced with an unknown narcotic” that made him paranoid.
Soto first fatally stabbed Schupbach and his mother, then beat, stabbed and used a truck to run over Larson, who was working as a mail carrier, authorities said. He next wounded three people inside one home and beat Newcomb, her sister and a friend with a baseball bat inside another home, according to authorities. The attacks happened within a matter of minutes.
Soto was arrested as he fled another home where he had stabbed a woman but had been slowed by a driver who stopped to intervene, authorities said.
veryGood! (6284)
Related
- Hurricane forecasters on alert: November storm could head for Florida
- Kentucky man linked to Breonna Taylor case arrested on drug charges
- Unlawful crossings along southern border reach yearly high as U.S. struggles to contain mass migration
- Malaysians urged not to panic-buy local rice after import prices for the staple rise substantially
- Subway rider who helped restrain man in NYC chokehold death says he wanted ex-Marine to ‘let go’
- New Van Gogh show in Paris focuses on artist’s extraordinarily productive and tragic final months
- Singer Sia Reveals She Got a Face Lift
- FAA, NTSB investigating Utah plane crash that reportedly killed North Dakota senator
- Trump’s economic agenda for his second term is clouding the outlook for mortgage rates
- Work starts on turning Adolf Hitler’s birthplace in Austria into a police station
Ranking
- When is 'The Golden Bachelorette' finale? Date, time, where to watch Joan Vassos' big decision
- Mexico’s president says 10,000 migrants a day head to US border; he blames US sanctions on Cuba
- A woman riding a lawnmower is struck and killed by the wing of an airplane in Oklahoma
- NYPD police commissioner talks about honor of being 1st Latino leader of force
- Agents search home of ex-lieutenant facing scrutiny as police probe leak of school shooting evidence
- 'It's still a seller's market' despite mortgage rates hitting 23-year high
- Family using metal detector to look for lost earring instead finds treasures from Viking-era burial
- New Maryland law lifts civil statute of limitations for all child sex abuse claims
Recommendation
-
Reds honor Pete Rose with a 14-hour visitation at Great American Ball Park
-
Massive emergency alert test scheduled to hit your phone on Wednesday. Here's what to know.
-
Man arrested in Peru to face charges over hoax bomb threats to US schools, synagogues, airports
-
Years of research laid the groundwork for speedy COVID-19 shots
-
NYC bans unusual practice of forcing tenants to pay real estate brokers hired by landlords
-
Trump's civil fraud trial in New York puts his finances in the spotlight. Here's what to know about the case.
-
Brazil’s President Lula back at official residence to recover from hip replacement surgery
-
Powerball jackpot grows as no winners were drawn Saturday. When is the next drawing?