Spring Grove man facing murder charges hires private attorney

A Spring Grove man has hired a private attorney to represent him on first-degree murder charges in connection with the May 15 death of Harvard teen Dylan Sanchez.

The McHenry County Public Defender’s Office no longer will represent 47-year-old John Maki Jr. Instead, Maki has hired Rolling Meadows attorney Timothy J. O’Donoghue as private counsel.

O’Donoghue could not be reached for comment after court Friday morning.

Maki has been in the McHenry County Jail since his arrest May 16, the day after police said he shot and killed 18-year-old Sanchez. McHenry County Judge Joel Berg previously set Maki’s bond at $5 million, meaning Maki would need to post $500,000 bail to be released.

Attorneys on Friday still were waiting on the results of a fitness evaluation that was ordered after Assistant Public Defender Angelo Mourelatos raised doubts about Maki’s ability to stand trial.

Details about Maki’s mental health have not been publicly disclosed.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested Maki on May 16 after receiving a 911 call a day earlier about a shooting in the 11100 block of Serenity Path. Deputies discovered Maki and Sanchez’s body inside the home, police have said. Sanchez died from an apparent gunshot wound to the face, according to the McHenry County Coroner’s Office.

It is unclear how Maki and Sanchez knew each other or what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting.