On the night of April 20, 2015, in Marion, Illinois, 30 year old male Michael Aaron Reed was shot multiple times around 10:40 p.m. in the 300 block of West College Street. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries; public death notices list his date of death as April 20 and record that he was born September 19, 1984, a Marion resident with roots noted in Memphis, Tennessee.
The gunfire shattered a quiet Monday night and set off a manhunt that pulled neighboring counties into its orbit.
Within hours, police named 34 year old Jack Thomas Jr. as a possible suspect and circulated details of a maroon 2004 Chevrolet pickup and license plate. By the next day, investigators located the truck in rural Hamilton County and arrested Thomas at an apartment in Carmi.
Authorities said the shooting followed an argument at Reed's home on West College Street. Thomas was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, his bond set at $1 million, and he made his first appearance in Williamson County court as the case quickly moved from a frantic search to formal prosecution.
The prosecution later said Thomas shot Reed as Reed sat behind the wheel of a truck, then fled; at trial, Thomas argued self-defense. A Williamson County jury rejected that claim and convicted him of first-degree murder in May 2018, a verdict that fixed the chaotic moments on West College Street into a clear narrative for the court.
In December 2018, the court imposed a sixty-five year prison sentence. The State's Attorney noted the jury had deliberated for roughly two hours before reaching its guilty verdict, closing the case that began with a late-night burst of violence and ended with a long term of imprisonment for the man held responsible.
