Continuance granted for man accused of killing Rochelle woman in 2022

OREGON – The defense attorney for a Palatine man accused of fatally stabbing a Rochelle woman in 2022 and setting her apartment on fire has seven weeks to respond to motions made by prosecutors.

“I need time to review these motions,” said Robert Kerr, the attorney for Gary C. Freeman, 29, during a Wednesday hearing at the Ogle County Judicial Center.

Freeman is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of residential arson and one count of concealment of a homicide in connection with the death of Devin K. Gibbons, 28, of Rochelle.

He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges March 1, 2023, and has been held in the Ogle County Jail since his arrest Feb. 28, 2023.

On Wednesday, Freeman appeared in court with Kerr for a pretrial hearing, with Ogle County Judge Anthony Peska presiding.

Assistant Ogle County State’s Attorney Allison Huntley said her office had filed six motions in limine and asked that they be sealed to the public pending an expected jury trial next year.

Attorneys file motions in limine when they seek to exclude certain evidence from being presented to a jury. The motions commonly are argued before a trial begins, allowing evidentiary questions to be decided by the judge.

“We will need a hearing on these motions,” Peska said before setting the next court hearing for 1 p.m. Jan. 22.

Gibbons was found dead Sept. 18, 2022, in her Rochelle apartment at 503 Seventh Ave. after Rochelle police and firefighters were dispatched to that address at 10:46 a.m. for a smoke investigation.

The fire was deemed suspicious, and additional investigators arrived after Gibbons’ body was discovered.

The first-degree murder charges, Class M felonies, allege that Freeman “knowingly stabbed” Gibbons “with the intent to kill her or do great bodily harm,” and that the “murder was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner, pursuant to a preconceived plan, scheme or design.”

The concealment of a homicidal death indictment, a Class 3 felony, alleged that Freeman knew Gibbons “had died by homicidal means” and “knowingly concealed” her death by leaving her body inside her apartment and then starting the fire. The residential arson charge is a Class 1 felony.

In August, Judge John “Ben” Roe agreed to allow prosecutors to review a transcript of a juvenile proceeding during which they said Freeman testified.

Huntley said Freeman testified in the juvenile proceeding in May and made statements relevant to the prosecution of his criminal case.

Because juvenile proceedings are confidential, a court order was necessary to obtain the transcript. Kerr did not object to the state’s motion to view the transcript.

Just one month before her death, Gibbons filed a petition through the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services seeking child support from Freeman, who she claimed was the child’s father. That case was filed Aug. 16, 2022, and attempts to serve Freeman were made with a notice to appear in court Sept. 27. The case was dismissed Sept. 27 because Gibbons was “deceased,” court records indicate.

At the time of Freeman’s arrest, prosecutors said many agencies worked on the investigation, including the Rochelle Police Department, the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois State Police, the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office, Illinois State Police crime scene investigators, the Ogle County Coroner’s Office, the Ogle-Lee Fire Protection District, the FBI Rockford and Chicago offices, the Schaumburg Police Department, the Palatine Police Department, the Sterling Police Department and the Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center.