Jury selection begins for man accused of shooting, killing Bradley, Illinois police officer in 2021
KANKAKEE, Ill. (CBS) -- Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a man accused of shooting and killing a police sergeant in Bradley, Illinois, nearly 60 miles south of Chicago.
Prosecutors said Darius Sullivan shot and killed Bradley police Sgt. Marlene Rittmanic with her own service weapon in December 2021. Xandria Harris, 26, was also charged in the crime. Her trial date has not been set.
Rittmanic and her partner, Tyler Bailey, were responding to a call about barking dogs in a parked car outside a hotel in Bradley.
Prosecutors said Bailey ran the license plate of the car with the barking dogs and found it belonged to Harris.
Prosecutors said Rittmanic and Bailey went upstairs to the hotel room where Harris and Sullivan were staying with the intention of issuing a ticket for a local noise ordinance violation against Harris because of the barking dogs and arresting Sullivan on outstanding warrants.
Harris initially kept officers waiting at the hotel room door but then tried to squeeze past the door and close it to prevent officers from arresting Sullivan, prosecutors said. Sullivan came from around the room with gun in hand and shot Bailey in the head, prosecutors said.
Sullivan then chased Rittmanic down the hallway, and disarmed her to get a hold of her gun when his gun jammed, prosecutors said. He fired the shots that killed her as she lay on the floor, prosecutors said.
Bailey was left critically wounded by the shooting, and spent nearly a year in a rehab hospital.
Sullivan was charged with murder, attempted murder, and aggravated battery.
Editor's note: This story was changed to clarify that Harris and Sullivan were staying in the hotel room when the officers arrived.