Police: Eyewitnesses, video selfie messages with gun led to arrest of Sterling teen in July shooting

MORRISON – A Whiteside County judge has ruled there is enough evidence to move forward with an attempted murder case that accuses a Sterling teen of a July shooting that seriously injured two other teens, one of whom was shot in the head.

Michael W.T. Bennett Jr., who turned 17 in May and is being tried as an adult, is charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, and one count each of aggravated discharge of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm in connection with the July 23 shooting, according to Whiteside County court documents.

The shooting happened shortly before 6 p.m. in the area of 13th Avenue and East Fifth Street in Sterling. A 17-year-old boy was shot in the head and a 14-year-old boy was struck in the right leg, according to court documents. Officers say the 17-year-old was seated in the front passenger-side seat of a Pontiac fired upon by Bennett Jr. – who was riding as a passenger in an Enclave owned by his grandmother – resulting in the Pontiac colliding with a utility pole. The injured 14-year-old was seated in the Pontiac’s rear passenger-side seat.

Associate Judge Jennifer Rangel-Kelly after a preliminary hearing Monday ruled there is probable cause to charge Bennett Jr., and denied public defender Dana McCormick’s request to dismiss the case, which McCormick described as “circumstantial, at best.” McCormick said Bennett Jr. was pleading not guilty to the charges.

Whiteside County Assistant State’s Attorney Ryan Simon laid out the case Monday during the preliminary hearing, which allows prosecutors to call witnesses to testify; a defendant’s attorney can question those who testify but is not allowed to call witnesses. The afternoon court session hinged on the testimony from Sterling Police Detective Clay Hadley, who was one of eight Sterling officers called to the area of East Fifth Street and 13th Avenue shortly after the shooting and car crash were reported around 6 p.m. July 23.

Under questioning from Simon, Hadley testified the officers used eyewitness testimony, surveillance video and Snapchat messages to determine Bennett Jr. was the shooter. He said the two shooting victims were seated in the front and rear passenger-side seats of the maroon Pontiac, which was driven by Bennett Jr.’s former girlfriend, when the vehicle was shot upon from a Buick Enclave owned by Mary Bennett, Michael Bennett Jr.’s grandmother. Hadley said Bennett Jr. had been living with his grandmother at the time of the shooting.

Hadley said the Pontiac, which had a total of four people in it, had been at Sinnissippi Park in Sterling just before the shooting. Hadley said the people in the Pontiac and three others in a Toyota Camry that had been at the park with them saw Mary Bennett’s vehicle and were concerned because they had earlier had some problems with Bennett Jr.

Hadley said the Pontiac left the park and was followed by the Enclave, which contained Bennett Jr. and three other boys, one as young as 13. He said the investigation indicates shots were fired from the Bennett vehicle into the Pontiac at the intersection and the Bennett vehicle quickly left the scene heading north. The Pontiac smashed into a utility pole.

Hadley said people in the area reported hearing several gunshots. None reported seeing the face of the gunman as the shots were fired, Hadley said.

He testified that a search of Bennett Jr.’s phone showed Bennett Jr. in the days leading up to the shooting took more than 20 selfie videos of himself holding a a Ruger 5.7 handgun. Some taken in the minutes before the shooting show him inside the Enclave with three other people and holding the same gun. A voice can be heard on one of the messages indicating they had spotted the 17-year-old, who was later shot in the head, with the group in the Pontiac, Hadley testified.

While the gun was not found after the shooting, Hadley said police were able to determine from the video what type of gun it was and other identifying factors that link it to the shooting. The gun was reported stolen in Rockford on July 24; video messages show Bennett Jr. posing with it July 21, Hadley said. Ammunition recovered from the scene matches the type that would have come from the gun, Hadley said.

He said surveillance videos, eyewitnesses who looked at an array of photos and interviews of the people in the Pontiac and the Camry led them to Bennett Jr.

Sterling police announced Sept. 11 that a juvenile, taken into custody Sept. 9, had been charged with one count each of attempted murder, aggravated battery of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm. The remaining charges, which named Bennett Jr., were filed Sept. 26. The one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm accuses him of shooting the Ruger within 1,000 feet of Lincoln Elementary School at 1501 E. Sixth St.

Charging documents indicate all the charges can be tried in adult court because of the two charges that allege Bennett committed a battery with a firearm by shooting one victim in the head and the other in the leg.

Bennett Jr., whose pretrial release was denied, has been held at the Kane County Juvenile Detention Center and will remain in custody. According to court documents, Bennett Jr. as a juvenile has been adjudicated delinquent for numerous offenses, including aggravated battery in a public place in July 2020; aggravated battery in a public place in June 2020 in Lee County; and battery – bodily harm and aggravated battery in a public place, both in September 2023.

Rangel-Kelly has set Bennett Jr.’s next court appearance for 9 a.m. Nov. 20. His trial is tentatively set to begin Dec. 10 in Whiteside County Circuit Court.

The attempted murder and aggravated battery charges are Class X felonies that, upon conviction, carry possible enhanced prison sentences of 25 years to life in prison; 85% of the sentence would have to be served.