Streator man charged in shooting death to argue SAFE-T Act applies to him

The new law is clear: All suspects shall be presumed eligible for pre-trial release. But does that apply to those charged with murder, too?

Malcolm Whitfield, who is charged in a Streator shooting that killed one and injured three, will find out Tuesday when he appears for a detention hearing.

Whitfield, 30, of Streator, appeared Friday in La Salle County Circuit Court for what proved to be an otherwise uneventful status hearing. Whitfield still is awaiting a new trial setting for multiple felonies, led by first-degree murder, for the shooting that killed Shaquita M. Kelly and injured two others. He faces up to 145 years in prison.

While the trial is pending, however, Whitfield wants to test the limits of the SAFE-T Act, which recently made Illinois a cash-free bail state. Judges, attorneys and defendants still are sifting their way through the new law and determining who stays in custody and who can wait for trial at home.

At first blush, Whitfield doesn’t look like a strong candidate for release. He is held on $5 million bond, but public defender Ryan Hamer nonetheless prepared a motion asking Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. to at least consider reduced terms of release.

Whitfield and Rachael Carter, 37, of Streator, were developed as suspects after the May 6 shooting that injured three people and after Kelly succumbed to her injuries. Whitfield and Carter were apprehended in Memphis, Tennessee, and have since been in custody awaiting felony proceedings.

Carter is set for trial on lesser – but still serious – charges Oct. 16.