Judge detains Belleville teen who says he has an alibi for when shooting occurred
.jpg "A Belleville teenager faces charges in connection with shots fired after a fight.")
A judge heard competing arguments in a detention hearing Thursday regarding allegations that a Belleville teenager fired a gun after what police described as a “large fight.”
A prosecutor told St. Clair County Associate Judge Sara L. Rice that multiple witnesses said Dominick Eads, 19, fired an assault-style rifle at the intersection of South 53rd and West Main streets in Belleville after the fight on Dec. 13 while a defense attorney said Eads has an “alibi” and was not present at the fight.
Rice granted Assistant State’s Attorney Levi Carwile’s motion that Eads be detained in the county jail until his trial.
Assistant Public Defender Jordan Blazek-Guinan told Rice that the witnesses had “lied to police” in a plan to protect the person who actually fired the weapon.
“My client wasn’t there,” he said. The persons who talked to the police are “clearly trying to frame him.”
Eads faces four felony charges in connection with the fight and shots fired:
- Armed violence
- Reckless discharge of a firearm
- Unlawful possession of a weapon
- Mob action
Carwile said a woman told police that a group of people had “jumped on” her daughter in front of their home. After the altercation, the suspects left in a vehicle but then stopped and one person got out and fired several shots.
No one was struck by the gunfire but charging documents allege the shots were fired in the vicinity of a person who was in the fight as well as multiple residences, schools, and businesses.
The Belleville Police Department has said three people were arrested after police located the vehicle. They were captured after running from the vehicle.
Illinois judges have been conducting detention hearings since September 2023 for people charged with serious offenses. If a judge considers a person dangerous to the community, the person can be remanded to the county jail until their trial, according to the revamped criminal justice system that eliminated cash bail as part of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today, or SAFE-T, Act.