W.J. Kennedy Stories | Chicago City Wire

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Retired homicide detective: 'Can't coddle criminals' and expect murder rates to go down

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 7, 2025

The reasons why Chicago is the murder capital of the nation for 13 years running are glaringly obvious, says Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski, and the city’s progressive leaders seem almost perversely committed to maintaining the status quo.

Eyewitness to the murder 'never recanted his testimony' against Jose Cruz

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 7, 2025

Lawyers for Jose Cruz, convicted of a 1993 gang murder but freed by former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx,

Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse study: Democratic leaders in Springfield receive millions in political donations from the plaintiffs’ bar

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 28, 2025

Democratic leaders in Springfield are the beneficiaries of millions in political donations from the plaintiffs’ bar, while the Republicans, in the minority in both the House and Senate, habitually receive nothing, a newly released study by the Illinois branch of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) shows.

Former prosecutor: Lawyers for Kim Foxx exonerees are on 'fishing expedition' in wrongful conviction lawsuit

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 24, 2025

Lawyers battling in the wrongful conviction lawsuits of two brothers convicted of the 1994 murder of a 10-year-boy on the South Side continue to dicker over the expanse of files to be included in the discovery phase of claims that the brothers’ constitutional rights were violated in their arrest and prosecution.

Former State's Attorney Kim Foxx's legacy lives on with $120 million wrongful conviction lawsuit payout

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 24, 2025

A federal judge awarded the largest wrongful conviction settlement in the nation at $120 million to John Fulton and Anthony Mitchell for the 2003 murder of 18-year-old Christopher Collazo. Each had spent 16 years in prison until a judge threw out their convictions on their claims of police misconduct, with former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx then dropping all charges – as she had done in dozens of other cases over her eight years running the office.

Small Business Administration Records: New CPD Deputy Chief Yolanda Talley received $21K PPP loan for 'other personal care' business

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 20, 2025

Yolanda Talley, newly-named second in command of the Chicago Police Department, received a Paycheck Protection Program loan (PPP) for $20,833 in 2021 for a self-described "other personal care services" business, according to U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) records.

ICE deports Sierra Leonean with ties to terrorist groups 17 years after arrest

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 14, 2025

U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) has deported an illegal immigrant

Chicago remains nation's murder capital as the 'criminal industrial complex' churns on

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 14, 2025

Murder rates in Chicago over 2024 show that the Windy City has kept its crown as the murder capital of the nation, according to a Wirepoints study that compared Chicago’s murder rates against those of 74 other large American cities.

Illinois House of Representatives doubles down on permitting Cook County public defenders to represent illegal aliens

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 12, 2025

Last week, a state House committee approved legislation

Disciplinary complaint likely against Loevy & Loevy attorney in criminal case against two former prosecutors

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 11, 2025

A Lake County judge who in February acquitted two former assistant state’s attorneys

'Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime' nearly pulled off in case against former prosecutors Trutenko and Horvat

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 11, 2025

A little noticed, but enormously consequential, acquittal verdict in a criminal case against two former Cook County Assistant State’s Attorneys (ASAs) might have spared prosecutors everywhere from being targeted with trumped-up criminal charges based on unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct

Misrepresentation of State's Attorney's Office Conviction Review Unit continues in the media

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 6, 2025

The Conviction Review Unit (CRU) in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) has taken plenty of heat

No word from Burke’s office on whether it will retry an exonerated Alexander Villa for murder of off-duty police officer

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 5, 2025

Alexander Villa, convicted of the 2011 murder of off-duty police officer Clifton Lewis, has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming his 2019 conviction was the result of a scheme by prosecutors and police to manufacturer evidence against him.

Big win for gun rights advocates as judge strikes down requirement to possess firearm license inside the home

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 18, 2025

For the third time a circuit court judge struck down a portion of the state law

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson will have a lot of explaining to do when he appears before the U.S. House Oversight Committee in Washington D.C. in March

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 18, 2025

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has been steadfast in his defense

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Morrison only 'no' vote on resolution that allows public defenders to represent illegals outside Cook County

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 14, 2025

Last week the Cook County Board pulled off a little publicized move allowing public defenders to represent illegal aliens in immigration courts beyond the jurisdiction of the county.

City Council committee bails on payout to the family of Dexter Reed

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 14, 2025

On Monday, Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee abruptly canceled a vote to approve a $1.25 million payout to the family of Dexter Reed, the 26-year-old shot dead by police last March in Humboldt Park.

Federal judge orders police defendant in Jose Cruz wrongful conviction case to provide sample handwriting

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 10, 2025

A federal judge has ordered one of the police defendants named in the wrongful conviction lawsuit of Jose Cruz, convicted of a 1993 murder, to provide a handwriting sample for an analysis by an expert chosen by Cruz’s legal team.

Convicted murderer withdraws some claims against Chicago detectives, prosecutors in wrongful conviction suit

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 7, 2025

Exonerated murderer Nevest Coleman has backtracked on some of his claims against Chicago detectives in his wrongful conviction suit in federal court, a move one legal analyst called “very good” for Chicago police who have been named in dozens of questionable wrongful conviction suits over the past 10 years.

Suspect in Norwood Park murder could have been in federal custody, but for the city’s sanctuary law

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 6, 2025

Absent a sanctuary law in Chicago, the Ecuadorian national charged in the Jan. 26 murder of Norwood Park resident George Levin would likely have been in federal custody at the time of the murder.

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