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Prosecutor wants US death penalty for police shooting pair

By WJBD Staff Jan 4, 2022 | 8:35 AM
Darius Sullivan and Xandria Harris (State Police)

KANKAKEE, Ill. (AP) — A prosecutor says he’ll ask the Justice Department to review the case of two people charged in the shootings of two police officers at a northern Illinois hotel with the intention of pursuing the federal death penalty charges.

Illinois is not a death penalty state, but Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe says the U.S. Attorney General can authorize the filing of a petition to seek the death penalty in a federal murder case under certain circumstances.

Rowe says he’ll also pursue the request for 25-year-old Darius Sullivan of Bourbonnais. Sullivan and Harris are charged with fatally shooting Bradley police Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic and critically wounding her partner, Officer Tyler Bailey.