Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Wilson Pleads Not Guilty to O'Laughlin Murder, Motion to Move Him Denied

The man charged with the murder of 14-year-old Kelli O'Laughlin has entered a plea of not guilty.

John L. Wilson, Jr., the man charged with the murder of a teen, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. At his arraignment Wednesday morning, Wilson's attorney made a third petition to have Wilson remanded to the custody of the Cook County Sheriff's Office.

Wilson is currently being held at the Pontiac Correctional Facility, located about 100 miles south of Chicago on I-55. , said the distance to the correctional facility and the procedures that must be followed, make it difficult for him to talk to his client.

"It is very difficult for me to mount a defense in this case," Carroll said in court Wednesday. "I have never experienced representing a person charged with murder that was not remanded into the custody of the [local sheriff's office.]"

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The Cook County State's Attorney's office disagreed, because Wilson was he allegedly broke into the home of 14-year-old Kelli O'Laughlin.

"It is the state's position that he is in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections for violation of that parole, and that's where he should remain," said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Andreana Turano.

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The charges against Wilson say that he stabbed O'Laughlin to death when she .

Judge Margaret O'Brien, who has been assigned the case, denied Carroll's motion to have Wilson moved.

Wilson's next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 3 at the Fifth Municipal District Circuit Court of Cook County in Bridgeview.

*The story above was updated from the time of its initial publication to include the location of Wilson's next hearing.


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