Crime
Alexis Trader, 34, will be detained in Cook County Jail pending trial after he was charged Thursday in the death of 63-year-old captain Nabil Abzal, who was pulled from the harbor waters in the early morning hours of Aug. 30, 2025.
U.S. District Judge James Hanlon on Tuesday ruled that Juan Espinoza Martinez is likely “at minimum entitled to a bond hearing and not subject to mandatory detention” after he was taken into custody last month.
According to Chicago Police Department data, there were 29 homicides recorded in January. That’s the second lowest total for that month over the past decade and marks a 29% decrease over January 2025 (41 homicides).
former Illinois sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting Sonya Massey, who had dialed 911 to report a possible prowler outside her Springfield home.
Anosh Ahmed, the former Loretto Hospital executive who allegedly fled to Dubai after he was charged in a $15 million embezzlement scheme, has been taken into custody in Serbia, according to federal prosecutors.
Officer Alain Dillon, 37, has been charged by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office with three felony counts of bribery and 15 felony counts of official misconduct. He has pleaded not guilty.
More work lies ahead in preventing shootings and in saving lives, according to stakeholders working to reduce violent crime and provide needed support to victims and their families.
This development marks a dramatic reversal from 2021, when the number of expressway shootings spiked at 310. Since then, incidents have dropped 80% to 61 shootings last year. Of the 89 shootings in 2024, 12 were fatal. In 2025, the number of shootings decreased by 31%, with no fatalities, police said.
An Illinois doctor indicted on murder charges in the December shooting deaths of his ex-wife and her dentist husband in their Columbus home pleaded not guilty to the killings in an Ohio courtroom.
A 12-person jury reached its verdict Thursday afternoon in the case of Juan Espinoza Martinez, who was charged in a murder-for-hire plot after prosecutors alleged he offered $10,000 for someone to kill Greg Bovino.
Federal prosecutors have alleged Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, posted a Snapchat message offering $10,000 for someone to kill Greg Bovino, the controversial Customs and Border Patrol chief. Espinoza Martinez’s lawyers say the message was nothing more than repeating rumors.
The jury was selected Tuesday afternoon as the case got underway inside a 17th-floor courtroom at the Dirksen Federal Building in downtown Chicago. Opening statements are slated to begin Wednesday morning.
Juan Espinoza Martinez is set to go on trial Tuesday on charges alleging he placed a bounty on the head of Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino last fall.
A Chicago tow truck driver is accused of helping steal multiple vehicles while he worked for the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis on Thursday granted a motion from Chicago and Illinois attorneys who sought to reassign their case to her.
“DePaul University is deeply disappointed that former student-athletes were named in the indictment for alleged gambling activities during the 2023-2024 men’s basketball season,” a university spokesperson said.