Court documents ID 17-year-old charged in Rock Falls shooting

ROCK FALLS – The 17-year-old Rock Falls boy charged with shooting a woman in the leg on Feb. 2 is charged as an adult and therefore named in charging documents filed in Whiteside County court.

Brycen C. Kaye was charged Feb. 9 with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

If convicted of the charges, Kaye faces six to 30, four to 15 and one to three years in prison, respectively.

Had Kaye been charged and convicted as a juvenile, he could have been held until he turned 18, which will happen on Jan. 11.

Kaye was arrested Feb. 8 during a traffic stop, along with Blake A. Keane, 21, and Ethan A. Fuller, 19, both of Sterling, who were arrested in unrelated matters, Chief Dave Pilgrim said in a news release Feb. 9, the day State’s Attorney Terry Costello filed charges.

Pilgrim said Thursday that, on the advice of the department’s counsel, he declined to name Kaye in the release because of his age.

The teen was being held in the Kane County Juvenile Detention Center, and has a preliminary hearing Feb. 26 in Morrison.

His photo was not available.

The shooting happened about 11 p.m. in the 200 block of Hudson Drive in Rock Falls.

The traffic stop happened about 1 p.m. six days later, in the 600 block of West Seventh Street. The vehicle was searched and a gun and 12-gauge shotgun ammunition were found in the passenger compartment, according to the release and court documents.

Keane is charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition, punishable by three to seven years in prison, and possession of ammunition without a FOID card, a misdemeanor.

He was freed after a detention hearing Feb. 9 and has a preliminary hearing March 4. He is on probation after being convicted in Whiteside County on Nov, 10, 2022, of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, for which he got a year and a half with the Illinois Department of Corrections.

A second felony count and three misdemeanor counts – two of possession of ammunition without a firearm owner’s identification card and one of possession of cannabis – were dismissed per a plea agreement

Keane also is on probation in Lee County, where he was charged Sept. 28, 2022, with threatening to kill two Reagan Middle School students over social media.

The threats, made Aug. 25, 2022, prompted a lockdown at Reagan and Madison Elementary School.

He was sentenced July 20 to two and a half years of probation for harassment through electronic communication, for which he could have received one to four years in prison.

One count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct was dismissed per a plea agreement.

Fuller had outstanding warrants in Whiteside, Bureau and Lee counties, according to the release.

Although the release did not detail the warrants for which Fuller was wanted, he was charged March 28, 2023, in Whiteside County with criminal trespass to a residence and criminal damage to property, both felonies, and misdemeanor theft.

In another case, he was charged Sept. 11 with obstructing identification and consumption of liquor by a minor, both misdemeanors.

He failed to appear at his hearing Oct. 18 in the felony case, and a warrant for his arrest was issued, court records show.

He now has a pretrial conference Feb. 29 in the misdemeanor case, and April 17 in the felony case.

Fuller also was charged June 29 in Lee County with two counts of possession of an expired FOID card, for which he is ineligible.

He pleaded guilty Aug. 10 to an added charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and was sentenced to two years of probation. The first two charges were dismissed per a plea agreement.

A petition to revoke that sentence was filed Dec. 14, court records show. No new hearing has yet been set in that case.

Fuller also is charged in Bureau County with trespass to vehicles, a misdemeanor that investigators say happened on June 18, 2022, online records show.