In their second day of deliberations, jurors on Friday found a teenager guilty of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of 17-year-old Sycamore teenager Kaleb McCall.

Hamza Khatatbeh, now 17, was 15 and a sophomore at Sycamore High School when he stabbed McCall in the chest during a fight in the parking lot outside Old National Bank in downtown Sycamore on Sept. 7, 2023. Khatatbeh himself testified Thursday that he did the stabbing.

He was also found guilty of armed violence and aggravated battery. All convictions were for adult charges.

Jurors began deliberations shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday, going well into the night. They recessed at about 10:45 p.m. Thursday and resumed deliberations about 10 a.m. Friday. A verdict was reached shortly before noon.

Khatatbeh didn’t appear to show a visible reaction as his verdict was read. As McCall’s loved ones exited Associate Judge Stephanie Klein’s courtroom, his mother appeared distraught.

“My son is dead,” she said, weeping as family comforted her.

McCall died from a single stab wound to the chest. Khatatbeh told jurors Thursday that he didn’t know McCall before he stabbed him.

Klein set a pre-sentencing hearing for 1:30 p.m. on March 30 and a tentative sentencing date of 9 a.m. April 23. In the meantime, Khatatbeh will remain held in custody without release at River Valley Juvenile Justice Center in Joliet, where he’s spent the past 30 months.

Khatatbeh’s and McCall’s loved ones, including their parents, filled the gallery at this week’s proceedings.

In his senior year at Sycamore School District 427, McCall had a job at the Culver’s in Sycamore, where his grandmother also worked. It’s the same Culver’s that Khatatbeh and two girls were at hours before McCall’s killing on Sept. 7, multiple witnesses said in testimony.

McCall was kind and selfless, his father said. He liked doing what lots of teen boys enjoy – hanging out with friends, skateboarding, playing video games, fishing, and biking.

Special prosecutor Derek Dion argued during the three-day trial that McCall’s killing was an avoidable outcome brought on by a group of teenagers who didn’t get along. He argued that Khatatbeh shouldn’t have brought a knife to an apparent fist fight.

“He didn’t have to do what he did, and he knew that,” special prosecutor Derek Dion said of Khatatbeh in his closing arguments Thursday. “He was not justified.”

But the defense spent several days arguing that Khatatbeh, who’d just turned 15 about a month before Sept. 7, had no other choice but to defend himself. The defense argued that McCall and his friend had acted “aggressively.”

Though charged with first-degree murder, Khatatbeh’s second-degree murder conviction – a lesser verdict – could carry in turn a shorter sentence. He’d have faced at least 20 years in prison on a first-degree conviction.

Guilty of second-degree murder, Khatatbeh could face between four to 20 years in prison. And since he’s a minor and won’t turn 18 until August, he likely would serve his initial time at a juvenile detention facility.

When asked about the verdict or if Khatatbeh plans to appeal, defense attorney Brandon Brown said they’re going to “recalibrate” and assess possible next steps for their client. He expressed gratitude for the jury’s efforts.

They deliberated for almost eight hours over two days.

Jury deliberations

Klein said Friday that jurors had asked two questions Thursday: Were they allowed to leave as the night grew later? And what happens if they can’t come to a decision?

Both prosecution and defense attorneys didn’t dispute that Khatatbeh stabbed McCall.

What was up for debate – and ultimately for the jury to decide – was whether Khatatbeh’s actions were justified or not.

The prosecution had argued Khatatbeh made a conscious decision to use a potentially deadly weapon against an unarmed person. Dion cast doubt about Khatatbeh’s own testimony when the teenager said he’d been afraid for his own safety.

Brown argued that Khatatbeh and the two girls he was with at the time were “minding their own business” and unfairly targeted by a group of older teenagers.

McCall and three other teenagers were in a Chevrolet sedan. Khatatbeh and two girls walked from Culver’s to downtown Sycamore. The group met in a parking lot. The stabbing was captured on video.

Khatatbeh and McCall appeared to attempt to strike each other about the same time. McCall used his fist. Khatabeh used a knife that pierced Kaleb’s right side. He died hours later at a nearby hospital.

First-degree vs. second-degree

In deliberating a possible first-degree murder conviction, jurors had to come to three conclusions: That Khatatbeh’s actions caused McCall’s death; that he swung the knife intentionally, knowing it would likely cause death or great bodily harm; and whether or not his use of force was justified.

Illinois law does not require a determination of premeditation in order for a jury to come to a first-degree murder verdict.

A second-degree murder conviction – which was the jury’s verdict – must meet all the criteria of a first-degree one. But it’s a lesser charge, with a significantly less potential sentence, because jurors also determined that Khatatbeh genuinely believed he had to defend himself but still used unreasonable force.

A self-defense verdict – which the defense had argued for – would have meant the jury believed Khatatbeh acted justifiably in fear of his own safety.

On Wednesday, Dion presented nearly a dozen witnesses to the jury: Sycamore police officers who responded to the stabbing and five teenagers who witnessed it.

On Thursday, co-defense attorneys Brown and Jim Ryan brought forward two of their own witnesses and then called Khatatbeh to the stand.

Khatatbeh told a jury that he’d been “tormented” for months by McCall’s friends – but didn’t mention McCall specifically. He testified that he’d never met McCall before.

Khatatbeh, in testimony, said that he stabbed an unarmed McCall with a pocketknife in self-defense.

The teenagers who witnessed the stabbing offered testimony that at times appeared to offer conflicting accounts of the events leading up to the stabbing.

Friends of Khatatbeh’s and McCall’s suggested in witness testimony Wednesday that they didn’t have any significant connection to each other, some saying they didn’t know McCall or Khatatbeh at all.

The prosecution argued that there was “mutual animosity” between Khatatbeh’s group and the teenagers in the car.

Shaw Local has identified Khatatbeh publicly since he is charged as an adult, and the case documents are unsealed. A judge also granted Shaw Local permission to cover the trial and proceedings.

This story was updated at 9:15 p.m. Feb. 20, 2026.