‘Had her entire life ahead of her:’ Man sentenced in New Baden woman’s murder
A New Baden man has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend after their breakup in 2023.
Emmet E. Metzger, now 27, admitted in interviews with police to shooting Alexis Maki, 24, multiple times in the living room of the apartment they used to share on Hanover Street in New Baden on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. Investigators also obtained video footage of the shooting from a home security camera in the living room.
Clinton County Associate Judge Douglas Gruenke handed down the sentence on Monday after Metzger had pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder in April.
Clinton County State’s Attorney J.D. Brandmeyer argued at the sentencing hearing that Metzger was motivated by hurt feelings and called his actions horrific, according to a public statement Brandmeyer released about the conclusion of the case.
“There is no excuse for killing someone in cold blood after a breakup,” Brandmeyer said in his closing arguments. “Certainly hurting someone’s feelings cannot be the slightest…justification for ending the life of a young woman that had her entire life ahead of her.”
Maki was six months away from graduating college when she died. She was studying radiology at Kaskaskia College in Centralia.
She was also a popular bartender at Grit and Tonic in Lebanon, her mother Lisa Brock told the Belleville News-Democrat in a 2023 interview.
The family asked that memorials be made in her honor to a humane society because she was a lifelong animal lover.
Metzger stated that he had consumed cocaine, THC and alcohol beginning the night prior to and up until the time of the shooting, according to Brandmeyer’s statement. The prosecutor’s summary of the case also stated that the defense argued for a lesser sentence based on Metzger’s mental state and mental health at the time of the shooting.
Metzger’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for further comment on Tuesday.
