Whitfield to stand trial Aug. 28 on murder charge in Streator shooting death

A Streator man will stand trial Aug. 28 for murder and would face up to 145 years in prison if convicted of firing shots that killed a Streator woman and injured two others.

Malcolm J. Whitfield, 29, also listed as a resident of DeKalb, appeared Friday in La Salle County Circuit Court for arraignment. Earlier this week, a La Salle County grand jury indicted him on three counts of first-degree murder plus six felony firearm charges, all stemming from the May 6 shooting that killed 35-year-old Shaquita M. Kelly.

Whitfield entered a not-guilty plea and will next appear Aug. 18 for a motions hearing before Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr., who also agreed to increase Whitfield’s bond from $1 million to $5 million. Prosecutors sought the increase in light of the new charges and Whitfield’s fleeing to Memphis, Tennessee, where he was apprehended.

Prosecutors disclosed a complicated sentencing range. Whitfield’s primary concern is the murder count for Kelly’s death. The sentencing range is 20 to 60 years but with a mandatory 25-year enhancement for using a firearm.

His remaining charges include two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm (Class X felony: six to 30 years) for the shots that struck and injured Emmett J. Williams and Brianna D. Anderson. If found guilty, Whitfield would serve the murder and two battery charges back-to-back for an aggregate sentence of 57 to 145 years.

Whitfield did not speak during Friday’s hearing, save for a short acknowledgement to a supporter in the spectator gallery.

Meanwhile, a second suspect in the May 6 shooting also was given an August trial setting, although she faces less serious charges.

Rachael N. Carter, 36, of Streator, appeared in court Thursday and left with an Aug. 21 trial for two counts of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon plus one count of aiding and abetting a fugitive. The most serious count carries up to seven years in prison and that presumes she hasn’t cut a deal.

Although Carter was deemed a suspect in the May 6 shootings and also was apprehended in Memphis, the grand jury did not indict her for murder. That development suggests prosecutors either determined she was only a minor actor in the shootings or, alternatively, she has agreed to provide testimony against Whitfield.

To date, there have been three shooting incidents in Streator in about a month. Two of them ended in death.

Early May 6, shots were fired in the 100 block of North Bloomington Street, but no injuries were reported and no charges filed. Less than two hours later, Kelly, Williams and Anderson were shot in the 100 block of West Hickory Street.

Then, early June 4, police responded to the 400 block of North Everett Street following a report of another person shot. A 33-year-old man crashed his vehicle into a nearby home and died from the gunshot wound, police said. That case remains under investigation and police are seeking information on the whereabouts of a blue or gray newer model Nissan Altima linked to the scene.