Murder / Homicide Lawyer Fairview Heights, IL. A homicide investigation in Illinois can develop for days or weeks without anyone being taken into custody. Investigators may have spoken with witnesses, examined phones, gathered camera footage, reviewed firearms evidence, and formed their account of the case already. By the time they ask for “your side,” they may be looking for statements that fit that theory.
Do not try to talk your way out of a murder investigation. Get an attorney involved before talking about what happened. Combs Waterkotte represents people accused of murder and other homicide offenses in Fairview Heights, IL throughout Illinois. Our criminal defense lawyers serving Fairview Heights, IL move quickly to protect clients during investigations, arrests, detention hearings, negotiations, and trials. Dial (314) 900-HELP for a free, confidential case review.
Cases Handled
Over 10,000
Jail Days Saved
Over 1 Million
Google Reviews
500+ Perfect
Legal Experience
Over 80 Years
On this page:
- First-degree murder, second-degree murder, felony murder, and other homicide charges
- What the prosecution has to establish in an Illinois murder case
- Sentencing ranges for homicide offenses and firearm-related increases
- Ways a murder or homicide accusation may be challenged
- Steps to take when police suspect you were involved in a death
- The court process after an arrest for murder in Fairview Heights, IL
- The work our defense team does before a homicide case reaches trial
Legal Videos
Everything You Need to Know About Felony Charges in Illinois
Everything You Need to Know About Felony Charges in the State of Illinois. Attorneys Steve Waterkotte and Joshua Boardman from Combs Waterkotte discuss everything you need to know about Illinois …
Can I Seal or Expunge My Criminal Record in Illinois?
Can I Seal or Expunge My Criminal Record in Illinois? Dealing with a criminal record in the state of Illinois? Combs Waterkotte attorney Joshua Boardman discusses the possibility of expunging your …
Can the Police Legally Search Me or My Property in Illinois?
Can the Police Legally Search Me or My Property in Illinois? Facing criminal charges in the state of Illinois? Combs Waterkotte attorney Joshua Boardman discusses probable cause and when police can …
Do I Need a Lawyer if I’m Innocent in Illinois?
Do I Need a Lawyer if I'm Innocent in Illinois? Facing criminal charges in the state of Illinois? Combs Waterkotte attorney Andrew Russek talks about it being more important to have a lawyer if …
What Penalties Could I Face Under Illinois Law?
What Penalties Could I Face Under Illinois Law? Facing criminal charges in the state of Illinois? Combs Waterkotte attorney Joshua Boardman talks about the possible penalties under Illinois …
What Are My Rights if I’m Arrested in Illinois?
What Are My Rights if I'm Arrested in Illinois? Facing criminal charges in the state of Illinois? Combs Waterkotte attorney Joshua Boardman discusses your rights following an arrest in …
Everything You Need to Know About Felony Charges in Illinois
Everything You Need to Know About Felony Charges in the State of Illinois. Attorneys Steve Waterkotte and Joshua Boardman from Combs Waterkotte discuss everything you need to know about Illinois …
Can I Seal or Expunge My Criminal Record in Illinois?
Can I Seal or Expunge My Criminal Record in Illinois? Dealing with a criminal record in the state of Illinois? Combs Waterkotte attorney Joshua Boardman discusses the possibility of expunging your …
Can the Police Legally Search Me or My Property in Illinois?
Can the Police Legally Search Me or My Property in Illinois? Facing criminal charges in the state of Illinois? Combs Waterkotte attorney Joshua Boardman discusses probable cause and when police can …
Do I Need a Lawyer if I’m Innocent in Illinois?
Do I Need a Lawyer if I'm Innocent in Illinois? Facing criminal charges in the state of Illinois? Combs Waterkotte attorney Andrew Russek talks about it being more important to have a lawyer if …
What Penalties Could I Face Under Illinois Law?
What Penalties Could I Face Under Illinois Law? Facing criminal charges in the state of Illinois? Combs Waterkotte attorney Joshua Boardman talks about the possible penalties under Illinois …
What Are My Rights if I’m Arrested in Illinois?
What Are My Rights if I'm Arrested in Illinois? Facing criminal charges in the state of Illinois? Combs Waterkotte attorney Joshua Boardman discusses your rights following an arrest in …
Under Investigation for Murder in Fairview Heights, IL?
You do not have to be arrested or formally named as a suspect for a murder investigation to become dangerous. Investigators might request a voluntary interview, ask for your device, or suggest that a short conversation will settle a few loose ends. Those words do not reveal whether police view you as a witness, a possible suspect, or their main target.
When officers are asking about a death and may suspect your involvement, talk to an attorney before you answer them. Do not assume you can explain a misunderstanding, correct someone else’s story, or prove your innocence by cooperating. Detectives may later place an offhand comment beside surveillance video, phone data, witness accounts, and physical evidence.
Bringing in counsel early allows the defense to protect evidence while the investigation is still active. Counsel may move to preserve video, locate people with useful information, secure records, document injuries, review search authority, and track property seized by police. In a serious homicide case, some of the most useful defense work can happen before the first court date.
If you have already been arrested, the same rule applies: do not discuss the facts of the case with police, other inmates, friends over recorded jail calls, or anyone other than your attorney. The prosecution has begun assembling its evidence. Your defense needs to begin its own work immediately.
Murder and Homicide Charges We Handle in Fairview Heights, IL
“Homicide” is a broad term for one person’s death caused by another. Prosecutors choose the charge by looking at the person’s alleged state of mind, the cause of death, any related felony, and facts involving justification, provocation, recklessness, controlled substances, or driving.
Combs Waterkotte defends Fairview Heights, IL clients against allegations involving:
- An Illinois first-degree murder charge: Intentionally killing someone, causing a death while knowing your actions were likely to kill or seriously injure someone, or causing a death during certain forcible felonies.
- Felony murder: When prosecutors blame a person for a death tied to a qualifying felony, even though that person did not personally deliver the fatal injury.
- Second-degree murder: An intentional or knowing killing reduced from first-degree murder because of serious provocation or an unreasonable but genuine belief in the need for deadly force.
- An attempted first-degree murder charge: Trying to kill someone and taking a real step toward doing so, even though the person survives.
- Helping or taking part in another person’s crime: A person can face an Illinois murder charge without firing the weapon or personally causing the death. These cases often rest on claims that the person assisted with planning, supported the crime, or helped it happen.
- Involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide: Cases involving a death that was not intentional but was allegedly caused by reckless behavior. When a vehicle is involved, the charge may be reckless homicide rather than involuntary manslaughter.
- Illinois drug-induced homicide: A case in which the State connects an illegal drug delivery to another person’s fatal overdose.
- Related murder and obstruction allegations: A murder-for-hire accusation, asking someone else to commit murder, conspiracy, hiding a death, weapons charges, as well as obstruction or evidence-related charges.
No matter how serious the allegation sounds, the State must prove it using admissible evidence. In some cases, the real fight is over identity. In others, it is intent, causation, justification, accountability, or whether a separate felony can support a felony-murder theory.
What the State Must Prove for First-Degree Murder in Fairview Heights, IL
Illinois defines first-degree murder under 720 ILCS 5/9-1 using three different sets of circumstances. Prosecutors can pursue the charge by claiming the person:
- acted with the intent to kill or cause great bodily harm, or with knowledge that death would occur;
- knew the acts created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm; or
- committed or attempted a forcible felony, during which the accused or another participant caused a death.
Intent and knowledge are often argued from circumstances: the words used, the weapon involved, the number and location of injuries, earlier communications, conduct before the incident, and what happened afterward. Circumstantial evidence does not always lead to only one conclusion. The defense’s job is to expose the gaps between what the evidence proves and what the State asks a jury to infer.
How Second-Degree Murder Works in Fairview Heights, IL
Second-degree murder in Illinois is not simply a less serious version of first-degree murder. Prosecutors begin by proving an intentional or knowing killing that would otherwise be first-degree murder. The offense becomes second-degree murder when the defense proves one of two mitigating circumstances:
- Serious provocation caused the person to act under a sudden and intense passion; or
- The person honestly believed deadly force was necessary to defend themselves or someone else, but that belief was not considered reasonable under the law.
These rules are set out in 720 ILCS 5/9-2. The defense does not relieve prosecutors of their duty to prove the intentional or knowing killing beyond a reasonable doubt. When lawful self-defense is raised, prosecutors may also need to establish that the use of deadly force was not justified.
Second-degree murder cases often turn on details that may seem minor at first. Earlier threats, visible injuries, weapons, witness observations, emergency calls, and the sequence immediately before the death may shape the charge and defense. The same incident could support a complete self-defense claim, a second-degree murder theory, another charge, or a finding that the accused committed no crime.
Illinois Murder and Homicide Penalties
A first-degree murder conviction ordinarily carries 20 to 60 years in prison under the Illinois first-degree murder sentencing statute. An extended term can reach 60 to 100 years, and specified circumstances can authorize or require natural life. Probation and conditional discharge are not available. The official Illinois sentencing statute contains the current ranges.
An allegation involving a gun can add many years to the sentence for first-degree murder. Being armed can add 15 years, personally firing the weapon can add 20 years, and causing great bodily harm, permanent disability, permanent disfigurement, or death by firing it can add 25 years to natural life. Depending on the circumstances, prosecutors may file additional gun charges under Illinois law, in addition to the homicide count.
- Illinois attempted first-degree murder: Usually sentenced as a Class X felony, with a standard range of 6 to 30 years. Special aggravating circumstances and firearm findings can increase that range substantially.
- Second-degree murder: A Class 1 felony with a special prison range of 4 to 20 years under Illinois Class 1 felony sentencing law.
- Sentences for involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide: Under Illinois involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide law, the usual charge is a Class 3 felony with a prison range of 2 to 5 years. Certain circumstances can raise the charge to a Class 2 felony, which carries 3 to 7 years in prison. This can happen in some cases involving multiple deaths, peace officers, emergency responders, construction zones, school crossing guards, or family or household members.
- Sentencing for drug-induced homicide: The Illinois drug-induced homicide statute covers unlawful deliveries of certain controlled substances when the recipient dies after taking them. The offense is a Class X felony, and certain cases carry 15 to 30 years, with an extended range of 30 to 60 years.
Defenses to Murder and Homicide Charges in Fairview Heights, IL
No single defense applies to every murder or homicide accusation. The defense has to fit the specific charge, the State’s evidence, and the facts counsel can verify outside the police reports. Still, certain issues come up repeatedly.
Self-Defense and Defense of Others
Under Illinois law on self-defense and defense of others, a person can use force when they reasonably believe it is necessary to protect themselves or someone else from the immediate threat of unlawful force. A person may use deadly force only if they reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent death, severe bodily injury, or the commission of specified serious felonies.
A self-defense claim depends on the evidence surrounding the encounter, not simply on saying the act was self-defense. The analysis may involve injuries, earlier threats, the presence of weapons, where each person stood, what the accused knew, witness testimony, and the exact sequence of events.
Mistaken Identity or a False Identification
Identification evidence may be mistaken. Someone may remember a jacket, body type, or way of moving without ever getting a clear look at the person’s face. Digital evidence may place a device near an area without identifying its user. Another person may have motive, access, or possession of the weapon. The defense can compare the identification with alibi information, surveillance footage, time records, documents, and witnesses investigators failed to interview.
The State Cannot Prove Intent or Knowledge
A fatal result alone is not enough to establish the intent required for first-degree murder. The State has to establish the required intent or knowledge unless its case is based on felony murder. Evidence may instead support a lack-of-intent defense because the death resulted from an accident, reckless conduct, or events that happened differently from the State’s account. Medical and forensic findings may also undercut claims about intent.
The State Cannot Prove What Caused the Death
The State must connect the accused conduct to the death. Causation may be contested when multiple people or injuries were involved, treatment was delayed, substances affected the person, another event intervened, or the deceased had an existing medical problem. Medical records and independent pathology review may change how the sequence is understood.
Evidence Was Collected Through an Illegal Search or Interrogation
Search warrants, phone extractions, home and vehicle searches, interrogations, lineups, and arrests can all be challenged when police violate a person’s constitutional rights. A phone can expose years of messages, photos, searches, and location information, so the authority used to search it needs careful review. The defense should examine whether Illinois police can search a phone without a warrant as well as the scope of information officers may review.
Mere Association Is Being Treated as Participation
In a multi-person case, prosecutors may try to turn association into participation. The defense can challenge whether the accused shared the required intent, actually aided the offense, withdrew before it occurred, or was merely present. In felony murder prosecutions, counsel can contest the felony used as the foundation, its relationship to the death, and the State’s account of causation.
What to Do When Police Ask About a Murder in Fairview Heights, IL
Have a lawyer present before speaking with investigators. A person who did nothing wrong can still give a damaging answer while scared, tired, or trying to figure out what police know. A small mistake or change in wording can become a major part of the State’s argument. Clearly invoke your right to silence and request counsel before any questioning continues.
Decline requests for permission to search. Never fight with officers or try to block the execution of a warrant. You may refuse permission without resisting, then have an attorney review whether police acted lawfully.
Do not delete anything. Deleting messages, accounts, photographs, location history, or posts can destroy evidence that helps the defense and can create a new allegation. Keep existing data and records intact. Do not contact witnesses to coordinate stories, and assume calls from a jail are recorded.
Tell your lawyer the whole sequence. Your lawyer may need names, earlier threats, photographs of injuries, information about missing items, camera locations, receipts, rideshare records, and witnesses who saw you around the time of the death. Discuss those facts privately with your attorney, not on social media or in messages to other people.
What to Expect After a Murder Arrest in Fairview Heights, IL
After a first- or second-degree murder arrest, prosecutors can ask the court to keep the accused person detained while the case is pending. A serious charge alone does not automatically mean the judge must order detention. The court must review a State petition, apply Illinois’s detention standards, and decide whether any release conditions could address the risk prosecutors identify. The detention process is governed by Illinois law under 725 ILCS 5/110-6.1.
From there, the case can move through indictment, arraignment, discovery, hearings on legal motions, possible negotiations, and trial. Discovery in a murder case can include massive police files, surveillance recordings, device data, forensic testing, medical records, and expert reports. Even with a large discovery file, counsel should act early on disappearing evidence, potentially unlawful statements, hard-to-find witnesses, and expert analysis that becomes more difficult as time passes.
Early choices after a murder arrest can have lasting consequences. Your statements, responses to search requests, conversations with other people, and preservation of evidence can all become important. Our guide to the first steps after a felony charge in Fairview Heights, IL offers a more detailed breakdown of the early stages.
Preparing a Fairview Heights, IL Homicide Case for Trial
Combs Waterkotte has handled more than 10,000 criminal cases and has earned more than 500 top-rated reviews on Google. The defense team brings together former prosecutors, lawyers who understand police work, an in-house investigator, and outside experts when specialized analysis is needed. That matters in a homicide prosecution, where the State may have detectives, laboratories, analysts, and expert witnesses involved from day one.
Preparing the defense can involve:
- communicating with investigators before the client submits to questioning or turns themselves in;
- obtaining and organizing the full discovery record rather than relying on a police summary;
- reconstructing events through surveillance, communications, records, and first-hand witness accounts;
- reviewing searches, questioning, identification procedures, and the collection of evidence for constitutional or procedural violations;
- bringing in investigators and specialists to review medical, forensic, electronic, firearm, or ballistics evidence;
- challenging evidence and legal theories through focused pretrial motions;
- considering negotiation options without treating a plea agreement as the default outcome; and
- building the defense with a possible jury trial in mind from the start.
A case looks different when the defense has done the work required to present it to a jury. Weak witnesses have to be found. Experts must be able to defend their methods and opinions under questioning. The prosecution’s sequence must make sense down to the minute. The State can tell the difference between a defense that is ready for trial and one that is hoping for a deal.
We also defend the following charges in Fairview Heights, IL:
Speak With a Fairview Heights, IL Murder / Homicide Lawyer
Police do not have to announce that you are their suspect. They can call you a witness, request your device, or say a brief interview is all they need. Speak with counsel before you answer questions or agree to a search.
Speak with Combs Waterkotte at (314) 900-HELP. Another option is to contact us online for a free, confidential consultation. A Fairview Heights, IL murder and homicide lawyer from our team is available 24 hours a day.
