Reid timeline

• April 11, 2008: Jermaine O. Robinson and Ryan J. Ferry are found dead in a car in the 1300 block of 7th Street in Rock Island at about 10:11 p.m.
• April 16, 2008: Rock Island police chief John Wright and Rock Island County State’s Attorney Jeff Terronez announce that Elijah Reid of 1351 3rd St., Rock Island was arrested that day on a warrant for four counts of first-degree murder for his alleged role in the deaths.
• April 24, 2008: Elijah Reid’s preliminary hearing is postponed because his lawyer could not make a hearing. The lawyer, Gregg Smith, was allowed to withdraw as Mr. Reid’s attorney Rock Island County Circuit Court Judge Walter Braud appoints private attorney William G. Schick to take his place.
• May 6, 2008: After hearing testimony that Mr. Robinson and Mr. Ferry were each found with two gunshots in their heads, Judge Braud finds probable cause to try Mr. Reid for the murders. Mr. Reid pleads not guilty. A police officer testified that $13,000 was found at the crime scene.
• June 4, 2008: A Rock Island County coroner’s jury rules that the deaths of Mr. Ferry and Mr. Robinson were both homicides.
• Aug. 25, 2008: Mr. Reid’s trial, which was scheduled to begin Sept. 2, 2008, gets delayed for an undetermined length of time.
• Oct. 29, 2008: Judge Braud rules that Mr. Reid is eligible to receive the death penalty and gives the State’s Attorney 45 days to decide if he will seek it.
• Dec. 2, 2008: Assistant state’s attorney Heidi Weller files notice that the office will seek the death penalty for Mr. Reid if he is convicted. Mr. Terronez said he and Ms. Weller decided to seek the death penalty because two homicides were committed during an attempted robbery.
• Dec. 5, 2008: Mr. Reid’s lawyers file a motion to bar the death penalty.
• Jan. 13, 2009: Judge Braud denies the motion to bar the death penalty.
• Feb. 23, 2009: The trial, now scheduled to begin March 2, gets delayed again to Aug. 17. The delay, granted by Judge Braud, was attributed to the defendant, though the motion was agreed upon by both parties. The delay was granted so both sides could have time to collect and process more evidence and interview more witnesses.
• Aug. 3, 2009: Mr. Reid’s trial is again delayed, this time until Dec. 7.
• Dec. 2, 2009: A hearing begins to determine whether Mr. Reid is mentally retarded and thus ineligible for the death penalty. The trial is delayed again because Assistant State’s Attorney Weller had to withdraw from the case due to personal reasons. She is replaced by Assistant State’s Attorney Mark Senko. The trial is delayed until Jan. 4.
• Dec. 4, 2009: Judge Braud rules that Mr. Reid is not mentally retarded, though his IQ is only 65. Illinois law states that a person with an IQ lower than 75 may be considered mentally retarded and ineligible for the death penalty. The law, however, allows for other factors to be considered by a judge. Judge Braud said that no parent, teacher or relative had ever suggested that Mr. Reid might be mentally retarded and agreed with Mr. Terronez, who said it was obvious Mr. Reid did not think of himself as retarded.
• Dec. 9, 2009: Mr. Reid has a mental fitness hearing to determine whether he is fit to stand trial. Judge Braud rules he is after psychologist Dr. Kirk Witherspoon testifies that despite his low IQ, he would understand what goes on during a trial and could assist in his own defense.
• Dec. 10, 2009: Judge Braud determines that Perry Dontay Slater, who had been in the Rock Island County Jail with Mr. Reid, was not reliable and could not testify during the trial as a jailhouse informant. Mr. Slater told Judge Braud that Mr. Reid said he got into a vehicle with Mr. Ferry and Mr. Robinson in order to take part in a drug transaction. He added that Mr. Reid said he “upped the pistol and popped them” as money was being counted.
• Dec. 29, 2009: Jury selection begins. Potential jurors fill out a questionnaire created by the prosecution and defense lawyers. The information will be compiled by lawyers on both sides and some jurors could be eliminated from the pool.
• Jan. 4: In-person jury selection begins, with 28 potential jurors answering questions from the lawyers and Judge Braud. Nine jurors are seated.
• Jan. 5: Jury selection is completed, with the last alternate being seated at 3:24 p.m. Opening statements begin at 4:05 and one witness – Rock Island police officer Ryan Barnett – testified.
• Jan. 8: The first week of the trial comes to a close. The state has called 14 witnesses and prosecutor Jeff Terronez estimates the state will finish its case at some point next week, though he did not know when.
• Jan. 11: The second week of the trial began.
• Jan. 12: Prosecutor Jeff Terronez wrapped the state’s case at 3:55 p.m. after calling 31 witnesses. The defense called two witnesses before court wrapped up for the day.
• Jan. 13: The defense finishes their case.
• Jan. 14: Closing arguments are made and jurors begin deliberating at 2:44 p.m. They are sent home for the night by Judge Braud at about 8:20 p.m. after about 5 1/2 hours of deliberations.
• Jan. 15: After another 40 minutes or so of deliberations, the jury finds Elijah Reid guilty of all four counts of murder. Though the death penalty eligibility phase was supposed to begin shortly after the verdict, Mr. Reid agreed to a sentence of life in prison with no appeal rights save his constitutional right to plead for clemency.
• Jan. 20: Elijah Reid files a handwritten motion seeking to change his sentencing agreement, saying he was not in his right mind when he agreed. In the motion, he maintains his innocence and says he wants his day in court.
• Feb. 9: Judge Braud denies Mr. Reid’s motion to change his sentencing date.
• Feb. 9 (part 2): Elijah Reid files a federal lawsuit against the Rock Island County Board, Rock Island County Sheriff Mike Huff, corrections officer Jeff Stulir and corrections officer Bryan Browne. In the suit, he claims he was not allowed to use the law library in the time leading up to the trial. Rock Island County Sheriff’s Lt. William Kauzlarich said he did not think there was much validity to the suit and Rock Island County Board chairman Jim Bohnsack said he had not heard about it. Interesting side note: Mr. Reid’s lawsuit against the county is actually the SECOND federal lawsuit filed in 2010 by an inmate claiming corrections officers denied him use of the law library. In January, inmate Samuel Scott, in jail on a drug possession charge, filed a suit in Rock Island’s federal court claiming the same two corrections officers – Jeff Stulir and Bryan Browne – denied him use of the law library.