As he looked down at a photo of his daughter, Ronggao Zhang could not contain himself. He turned away, inhaled sharply and began crying on the witness stand. Then the man convicted of killing Yingying Zhang did the same.

A federal appeals court says Chicago can no longer continue to hold impounded vehicles of drivers in debt to the city after the vehicle owner files for bankruptcy. Melissa Sanchez of ProPublica Illinois explains.

Until this week, jurors knew little about Yingying Zhang, other than how she died. Federal prosecutors on Monday sought to paint a better picture of the visiting Chinese scholar through the words of her friends and loved ones.

Police said a false report of gunfire set off a stampede that trampled more than a dozen people at Chicago’s annual July 4 fireworks display Thursday at Navy Pier, where thousands of revelers had crowded the Lake Michigan shore.

A federal lawsuit says Mississippi is violating free-speech rights by banning makers of plant-based foods from using terms such as “meatless meatballs” and “vegan bacon.”

As in any criminal case, after a defendant is found guilty, the court moves on to sentencing. But things operate differently when the defendant faces a possible death sentence.

Customs spokesman Steve Bansbach said Tuesday that the man declared the 32 pounds of meat on June 26 when his flight arrived from the Ivory Coast. The meat was confiscated and destroyed.

Meet Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, the first woman in the 200-year history of Chicago’s federal court to become chief judge.

Federal defenders are seeking a four-week delay to review and translate videos of Yingying Zhang and her family if that evidence is allowed at sentencing.

Police say charges are currently pending against six adults and one possible juvenile accused of spray-painting the Bean and Cancer Survivor Wall in Maggie Daley Park.

There were more than 50 shootings this past weekend in Chicago. Despite that, the total number of shootings in the city is at its lowest point since 2015, police say.

A partnership between Google and the University of Chicago resulted in a violation of patients’ privacy rights, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by a former patient of the University of Chicago Medical Center.

The lawsuit says the abuse occurred in 1998. Kelly’s attorneys say she had until 2002 to sue. But state law can extend deadlines to file in cases where the accuser becomes aware of the abuse later.

Lawmakers who drafted the measure making Illinois the 11th state to legalize marijuana emphasized repairing what they say is the damage done by a half-century of the war on drugs. 

Attorneys for Brendt Christensen say he offered to cooperate with investigators and disclose what he did with the Chinese scholar’s remains in return for a life sentence just six months after his 2017 arrest.

Prosecutors have turned over to R. Kelly’s attorneys a tape they say shows the singer having sex with a minor girl two decades ago.