PEKIN, Ill. (WMBD) — Attorneys for a man accused of kiling two people last week in South Pekin did not contest prosecutors’ request to hold him pending trial.
Also, defense attorneys for Memphis Rue asked that he be examined by a mental health professional to see if he was fit to stand trial. The case was set over until May 22 for a preliminary hearing.
Rue, 21, was charged Friday in Tazewell County Circuit Court with two counts in connection with the shooting deaths of Chase Rhodes, 21, of Pekin and Dawson Reese, 21, of rural Pekin early Thursday morning.
He appeared from the county jail by way of video-conferencing. He was in the room alone during his hearing and wore a black and white jumpsuit of an inmate. A jailer held a napkin up to his nose, apparently for a nose bleed.
When they filed the charges last week, prosecutors also filed a petition asking a judge to hold him in custody pending the outcome of his case. The petition alleges that “pretrial release of the Defendant would pose a real and present threat to the safety of person(s) or the community.”
Rue, through his attorneys, did not contest his detention but they did reserve the right to ask for his release at a later time.
The brief hearing did not reveal any new details about the shootings. That could come out later at the preliminary hearing.
According to a probable cause statement filed within the court file, deputies with the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office were called to a house in the 11300 block of Illinois Route 29 on a report of a shooting. When they arrived, they found Reese’s father who had a gun pointed at Rue.
The father said all three were good friends and were hanging out in the basement that night and he dozed off on the couch in the living room. He woke to hear gunshots and Rue allegedly yelling “they’re dead!” He went downstairs and saw Rue with a gun. He took it from him and held him in the kitchen at gunpoint until the police arrived.
Autopsy results, the allegations state, showed Rhodes and Dawson Reese died of gunshot wounds.
If convicted, each charge carries a minimum of 20 years in prison and maximum of 60 years behind bars. It’s possible that a 25-year automatic tack-on could be imposed on the base range. However, if he’s convicted of both murders, he faces life in prison.
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