Crime & Safety
New Trial Ordered in Ice Cream Vendor Murder
An appellate court ruled that Monta Travis' interview must be suppressed because police told him he'd be tried as a juvenile, but he ended up being charged as an adult.
A Joliet man convicted of shooting an ice cream vendor in a robbery that netted him less than $100 will receive a new trial under a ruling made by the 3rd District Court of Appeals.
The court also ruled that a videotaped confession made by Monta Travis, now 20, must be suppressed, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune. Travis was sentenced to 45 years in prison for killing Manuel Villagomez, of Chicago, in Joliet in 2007.
The court ruled that Joliet police gave Travis, who was then 15, "misleading promises of leniency" by saying the case would be handled in juvenile court, when Travis would actually end up being charged as an adult, the story said.
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"We understand that this case presents extremely tragic circumstances," the panel wrote in a unanimous ruling, quoted by the newspaper. "However, as we are a nation of laws, we are compelled under the law to reverse ... and remand."
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