PEKIN, Ill. (WMBD) — A man accused of killing two others last month will next appear in court in late July to allow time for a mental health exam.
Memphis Rue appeared in Tazewell County Circuit Court for a brief hearing Thursday morning. He entered pleas of not guilty and a July 28 hearing was scheduled.
Rue, 21, is charged with murder in connection with the April 24, shooting deaths of Chase Rhodes, 21, of Pekin and Dawson Reese, 21, of rural Pekin.
Last month during a detention hearing, Rue’s attorneys asked he be examined by a mental health professional to see if he was fit to stand trial. That exam and the report that follows has not yet been completed.
Rue remains an inmate at the county jail as his attorneys last month did not contest prosecutors’ request to hold Rue pending the outcome of his case.
According to a probable cause statement filed last month, 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.
The allegations state, the autopsy results, 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. If he’s convicted of both murders, he faces life in prison.
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