Batavia teen's writings detailed 'Day of Wrath' with 12 dead, 30 injured, 300 trauamatized

ST. CHARLES TOWNSHIP – The Batavia High School boy charged in November with possessing explosives had a manifesto detailing a “Day of Wrath,” in which he planned to commit mass murder at his high school, seeking to kill 12, injure 30 and traumatize 300, a prosecutor said during a hearing Thursday in the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center.

The boy, now 16, faces a 14-count complaint that includes felony charges of terrorism and attempted first-degree murder, stemming from various amounts of explosive ingredients and containers to encase such ingredients which the FBI found at his house in the 1100 block of Davey Drive Nov. 26.

One issue in Thursday’s hearing was a motion by defense attorney Gary Johnson to quash a prosecution subpoena seeking all the boy’s school work and writings.

Documents prosecutors sought would be used as evidence in the boy’s transfer hearing, scheduled for May, to argue the state’s motions that he should be transferred to adult court instead of remaining in juvenile court, prosecutors said.

Johnson said the request was overly broad and did not state its relevance.

“It’s a classic fishing expedition,” Johnson said. “A subpoena has to have some kind of a basis.”

But after hearing arguments from Assistant State’s Attorney Bridget Sabbia, Kane County Associate Judge Kathryn Karayannis ruled against Johnson to permit the subpoena for all the boy’s written or created schoolwork.

Sabbia argued that the subpoena was not over broad, in that they were seeking his schoolwork encompassing the last semester of his sophomore year and the first semester of his junior year up to his arrest in November.

In January, staff found a diary in the boy’s cell containing drawings of cellular structures and “concerning phrases” that were also contained in a manifesto that was in a notebook police found at his house, Sabbia said.

"It was his plan to commit mass murder at Batavia High School," Sabbia said. "His plan was to commit a massacre at Batavia High School."

Among the charges the boy faces are two misdemeanor charges of attempted hate crimes.

Sabbia argued that what prosecutors are seeking is relevant because the hate crime charges stem from his conduct and what he wrote in his notebook, which contained “several concerning phrases made by the minor.”

“Writings are evidentiary,” Sabbia said, as the boy’s diary “contained references to Hitler, Nazism and groups of people that he hates. … Before committing these offenses, he was thinking about his plan for a ‘Day of Wrath’ for years.”

Sabbia said according to the boy’s writings, the body count he sought was “12 dead, 30 injured and 300 traumatized.”

According to a search warrant that was apparently unsealed by mistake, the boy researched the 1999 Columbine school shooting and was searching the building blueprints of Batavia High School, according to the search warrant, the Daily Herald reported in December.

“It’s not overly broad,” Sabbia said of the subpoena. “The state is obligated to show that he is the author of of that writing at the Juvenile Justice Center and at home. … It would clearly be relevant.”

What he wrote in the diary was included in the boy’s psychological evaluation and the doctor would be testifying at the hearing to determine whether he should be transferred to adult court, she said.

Knowledge of boy’s physical and mental health, his schoolwork, his relationship with his parents – who have said they believe he is on the autism spectrum – are all factors the court will consider, Sabbia said.

His knowledge of chemistry is also relevant, she said.

“His chemistry teacher said the minor has more practical knowledge of organic chemistry than a typical high school student,” Sabbia said. “The relevance is to know his ability to do what he did.”

Also at issue during Thursday’s hearing was a motion by Assistant State’s Attorney Michelle Katz asking the judge to reconsider an earlier ruling not to allow the prosecution to have the boy’s social history.

Katz offered case law and Karayannis agreed that her earlier denial was in error and ruled that the prosecution could have the boy’s social history.

The boy also faces charges of attempted terrorism, attempted causing a catastrophe, eight counts of possession of explosives or explosive or incendiary devices.

According to a news release from Batavia police at the time, the FBI had notified them that it received a tip from a third party that someone in Batavia had purchased materials that when mixed together could be used in the creation of explosives.

The boy was charged in connection with an investigation by the Batavia Police Department, the Kane County Bomb Squad, the Kane County Major Crimes Task Force, the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspectors, officials had said then.

Additionally, out of an abundance of caution, bomb sniffing dogs searched Batavia High School, but no evidence of explosives or explosive components were found on school property, the release stated.