Stories where you live – Week of March 30
Jacksonville police investigating carjacking in ALDI’s parking lot
Jacksonville police are investigating a report of armed robbery and carjacking that allegedly occurred about 7 p.m. Monday, March 31 in the parking lot of ALDI on East Morton Avenue.
According to a press release, an unidentified man stole the victim’s vehicle and used a knife to threaten the victim. Police say the victim suffered a minor injury in the incident and was treated at the scene.
The suspect’s last location was southbound on South Main Street. Information relative to the investigation was immediately broadcast to surrounding agencies and the Illinois State Police.
A short time later, several 911 calls were dispatched in the Springfield area in reference to a reckless driver. Southern View Police Department attempted to stop the stolen vehicle being driven by the suspect; however, the suspect fled in the stolen vehicle from officers.
The Jacksonville Police Department was notified that the victim’s vehicle was involved in a motor vehicle accident with injuries to others a short time after the suspect fled from officers, in the area of 4th Street and Stanford Avenue in Springfield.
The suspect, and driver of the stolen vehicle, fled the scene of the accident on foot and remains at large.
If anyone has any further information regarding this investigation, or any other investigation, please contact the Jacksonville Police Department at 217-479-4630 or the anonymous tip line of Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott & Cass Counties at 217-243-7300.
Coroner releases information on man found dead in Railroad Street home
Morgan County Coroner Marcy Patterson has released the identity of the man found dead in a home on Railroad Street in Jacksonville on Sunday, March 30.
DeAnte Overton, 24, was discovered unresponsive inside of a home located in the 800 block of Railroad Street around 2:45 a.m. Sunday. Patterson says the cause of death was a gunshot wound, but the case is not a homicide.
The case continues to be investigated by the Jacksonville Police Department, the Morgan County Coroner’s Office, the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, the Morgan County State’s Attorney’s Office and investigators from the Illinois State Police.
Macon County man arrested in Winchester after home invasion
Scott County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested a Macon County man early morning of Monday, March 31 after an alleged violent home invasion.
Jacob D. Edwards, 30, of Decatur, was booked into the Greene County Jail at
approximately 10:30 a.m. on Monday, March 31. Edwards has been charged with home invasion with indication of a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle and possession of a weapon by a felon.
According to scanner traffic, officers in the Winchester area were dispatched to a rural residence for an unwanted subject trying to get inside of a home. No further information is available. The Scott County Sheriff’s Office has not released any additional details. Edwards remains held at the Greene County Jail, and is due to return to court on April 28 for a pretrial conference.
Second annual Freedom Corridor Conference at Illinois College sets new course of action
More than 100 people gathered in person and by Zoom at the second Freedom Corridor Conference at Illinois College in Jacksonville this past March 28-29. The topic was 19th century freedom seeking and the Underground Railroad folks who helped them.
Local history activists, scholars, educators, community development professionals and students participated in lively sessions, and on-the-spot passed two resolutions and made explicit plans for the future.
The event also debuted a map created from 15 sources on the Illinois Underground Railroad. This map identified 429 locations where freedom seekers — enslaved people running for their lives — found help as they moved north.
One resolution passed at the conference was to adopt the slogan “Many Voices, One Nation” and recruit Illinois’ museums and historical/cultural sites and organizations to adopt it as well in response to recent upheaval at the Smithsonian Institute and cutbacks at the National Park Service.
The group is also working to collect signatures for a new commemorative postage stamp commemorating African American freedom seeker and 1836 New Philadelphia town founders Free Frank and Lucy McWorter.
It also includes conducting a lobbying day at the Illinois General Assembly to urge the creation and funding of an Illinois Freedom Trails Commission.
Demolition begins on McClelland Hall
Demolition work began in earnest on Monday, March 31 on McClelland Hall (the dining hall of the former MacMurray College campus) on East College Avenue in Jacksonville.
Tragedy struck the building in the early morning hours of June 9, 2024, when a fire gutted the eastern addition to the building that housed the modern kitchen, which saw renovations in the early 2000s prior to the college’s closing.
In December 2024, it was announced that then-owner Mike Hayes of Jacksonville had donated the building to Our Savior Parish and Routt Catholic High School. At that time, representatives of the school and the Catholic Diocese of Springfield were to determine the building’s structural integrity before determining its future. In late February, the leadership of the parish decided it was not economically viable to restore the building and began the process to raze it. Demolition crews have spent most of the week tearing the 96-year-old structure down and removing the debris.
Gov. Duncan Association announces work day
A work day is being planned at the Governor Duncan Mansion and the public is invited to participate in helping the historic site get ready for the tourist season.
Members of the Rev. James Caldwell Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution and board members of the Governor Duncan Association will be working at the mansion’s cleanup day, which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. April 12.
Students from TRIO, an organization from Illinois College, cleaned at the mansion March 29, but additional work needs to be done including cleaning woodwork, cleaning floors and possibly some painting on the third floor.
Some work outside is planned, weather permitting. Volunteer gardeners are especially welcome and are asked to bring their own tools and gloves.
Anyone interested in volunteering can either show up April 12, email their plans to the association at governorduncanassociation@gmail.com or contact Dave Dawson at 217-706-4109.
East State Street railroad crossing rehab a part of ICC 5-year plan
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has announced their 5-year plan for railroad infrastructure improvements, which includes Jacksonville’s East State Street rail crossing. Over $400 million from the Grade Crossing Protection Fund (GCPF) and Rebuild Illinois infrastructure program will be utilized for 900 separate crossing locations across the state.
State funding from the GCPF and Rebuild Illinois provide Illinois communities the ability to address long-standing safety concerns and increasing project costs. Among the projects included in Fiscal Year 2027 is the Cockin Road crossing in Alexander, which will include a reconstructed approach and installation of gates and lights.
In Scott County, Valley City at Pine Switch Street will also get a reconstructed approach with installation of gates and lights. Morgan County is scheduled to see the most work in Fiscal Year 2029, including a rehabilitation of the East State Street crossing in the City of Jacksonville, which will see major pedestrian gate modifications.
Our Saviour Parish reports theft of copper gutters from church
Members of Our Saviour Parish filed a police report with the Jacksonville Police Department on the afternoon of Monday, March 31 of the theft of four seven-foot sections of copper downspouts taken from the church property, located at 453 East State St.
If you have further information, please contact the Jacksonville Police Department at 217-479-4630 or the Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott & Cass Counties at 217-243-7300. You may remain anonymous.
Illinois, Indiana state police arrest Jacksonville man in Indiana for Beardstown murder
Illinois State Police Investigators announced on Saturday, April 5 they had arrested 45-year-old Benchy Couloute, of Jacksonville, for first-degree murder of a Beardstown man on March 24.
Beardstown Police Department, along with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Beardstown Ambulance and Beardstown Fire Department, responded at approximately 7:45 p.m. on March 24 to a home in the 1200 block of State Street in Beardstown for an unresponsive man.
Beardstown police requested ISP take over the investigation, which was later declared a homicide. The victim, 37-year-old Junior N. Kalnoji of Beardstown, was declared deceased at the scene. After a thorough investigation, the case was presented to the Cass County State’s Attorney’s Office, and an arrest warrant was issued for Couloute.
During the investigation, it was determined Couloute fled to the state of Indiana. Indiana State Police located and arrested Couloute, in conjunction with ISP special agents. Couloute is being held at the Marion County, Indiana Sheriff’s Office pending extradition.
South Jacksonville inducts new police officer
South Jacksonville has a new police officer. South Jacksonville Police Chief Eric Hansell officially swore in Wes McKinney, a native of Murrayville, to the force. McKinney was approved for hire at the end of March by the Village of South Jacksonville Board of Trustees and has been on the streets for the last two weeks.
A man of few words, McKinney told the board of his connection to the area: He has a young daughter with whom he spends much of his off days when not on patrol. He has served as an officer with the Jacksonville Police Department and is now a part-time officer with Chapin.
Smith leaving Franklin Elementary, returning home to Carrollton
Franklin Elementary School Principal Ronda Smith is leaving the district at the end of the year. Smith, a native of Carrollton, has been named as the principal of Carrollton High School for the 2025-2026 school year.
She was officially hired by the Carrollton School Board last month and will replace Leslee Frazier who will retire at the end of the current school year. Smith was the Carrollton Grade School principal prior to being hired by Franklin School District.
