Illinois
Illinois man represented by Springfield-based project has murder conviction vacated
Glynn Simmons remembers working with police before wrongful conviction
“It’ll be cleared up. So I thought. So I felt.” Glynn Simmons recounts cooperating with police before he was wrongfully accused of murder.
A Chicago man who spent nearly three decades in prison after being convicted of murder as a teenager was fully exonerated by a Cook County judge on Tuesday.
Jerry Herrington was represented by the Illinois Innocence Project (IIP) based at the University of Illinois Springfield.
The project was founded at the university in 2001 and has brought freedom to 27 individuals in the state, according to a news release.
Herrington, 45, completed his prison sentence in 2020.
Tuesday’s decision by Judge Alfredo Maldonado came with an agreement from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
It meant that Herrington’s murder conviction had been vacated and all charges dismissed.
Herrington was represented in court by senior staff attorney Leanne Beyer; legal director Lauren Kaeseberg and staff attorney Brandon Klages, all from the IIP. IIP senior staff investigator Lynn Bagley provided critical investigation in the case.
Herrington was 16 when he was accused of shooting a woman in Chicago in 1991.
According to the release, evidence showed that Chicago Police officers “punched and slapped” Herrington while he was detained and denied his request to call relatives.
Officers said that Herrington had verbally confessed to the shooting although he never signed a written confession, and no recording of the interrogation was made. Herrington maintained he didn’t offer a confession.
A 16-year-old informant claimed to have witnessed the shooting, but the first and only time he identified Herrington as the culprit was from the witness stand.
Two new credible witnesses have come forward, stating they saw the shooting and knew the identity of the real perpetrator but were afraid to say anything at the time of the shooting.
Officers who investigated this case and abused Herrington are now the subject of numerous allegations regarding systematic misconduct and abuse, as well as fabricated evidence, according to the release.
“Jerry was just a child when he was wrongfully imprisoned,” Beyer said. “He and his family are overjoyed about his exoneration. Their journey through the justice system has taken way too long. We appreciate the efforts made by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to investigate this case and for their willingness to right this wrong after more than three decades.”
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788: sspearie@sj-r.com: X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Multiple rounds of severe storms impacted central Illinois on Wednesday bringing damaging wind gusts and very heavy rain. Our area was sparred from the worst of the tornadoes, but areas south of I-72 were not so fortunate with damage to homes and injuries reported.
An outflow boundary from our morning storms struggled to get any further north than highway 136, which was about 30 miles south of what was anticipated early this morning. This kept the risk of strong tornadoes just south of our local region, though we still had plenty of rain and instances of large hail and gusty winds roll through central Illinois.
The worst of the wind came with the storms in the morning. As the severe storms moved through the area they produced measured gust of 60-70 mph with localized gusts estimated to be around 80 mph. The winds resulted in tree, powerline, and structural damage from Knox through McLean County.
Storm Reports
Galesburg – Tree and power line damage
Williamsfield – Roof partially torn off building
Princeville – Tree damage
Dunlap – 60 mph wind gust
Bellevue – 60 mph wind gust
Germantown Hills – Trees down
Roanoke – 60 mph wind gust
El Paso – Power poles snapped
El Paso – Multiple semis and campers rolled on I-39
Gidley – 70 mph wind gust
Chenoa – Semi rolled on I-55
Dunlap – 1.0″ size hail
Metamora – 1.0″ size hail
Armington – 1.0″ size hail
Rain reports
West Peoria – 4.37″
Lexington – 4.00″
West Peoria – 3.98″
Washington – 3.97″
East Peoria – 3.47″
Dunlap – 3.40″
Goodfield – 2.47″
Towanda – 2.43″
Peoria (PIA) – 2.24″
Lewistown – 2.20″
Galesburg – 1.84″
Chillicothe – 1.52″
Pontiac – 1.27″
Historic tree dating back to Abraham Lincoln damaged in Springfield
It may be the last living tree standing when Abraham Lincoln and his family lived in the Springfield neighborhood from 1844 to 1861.
More than 30,000 Illinois residents reported power outages Wednesday morning amid severe storms and destructive winds.
The National Weather Service forecast two rounds of severe weather throughout the day, issuing a tornado watch early Wednesday morning across central Illinois.
Where were power outages reported in Illinois?
More than 35,000 of the more than 5.8 million customers tracked on PowerOutage.com reported outages Wednesday, as of noon.
The majority of these outages were concentrated in west-central Illinois in Warren, Henderson and Woodford counties.
More than 93% of the customers tracked in Henderson County and nearly 60% of those in Warren County were impacted by outages.
Less widespread outages were also reported in DeKalb, Mercer, Knox, Menard, Jefferson and Gallatin counties.
Electric service company Amaren was by far the most impacted utility provider, followed Commonwealth Edison Company and Corn Belt Energy Corporation.
Illinois power outage map
Report power outages in Illinois
Illinois residents can report power outages in their area at PowerOutage.com.
Illinois power outage tracker
To track where power outages have been reported and where they have been restored, follow the USA Today power outage tracker.
Chicago weather radar
Central Illinois weather radar
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