On April 24, 2025, at approximately 5:00 AM, Chase Rhodes, a 21-year-old male from Pekin, Illinois, was fatally shot while in the basement of a home located in the 11000 block of Illinois Route 29 in South Pekin. Rhodes was with his best friend, Dawson Reese, also 21, when both were killed in the incident.
The suspect, Memphis S. Rue, age 21, was apprehended at the scene after David Reese, who had been sleeping on a living room couch, was awakened by gunshots and Rue yelling "They're dead! They're dead!" David Reese managed to disarm Rue in the kitchen and held him at gunpoint until Tazewell County sheriff's deputies arrived. When law enforcement reached the scene, they found Rue being held at gunpoint in the kitchen and discovered the bodies of both victims in the basement.
The Tazewell County State's Attorney, Kevin Johnson, filed two first-degree murder charges against Memphis S. Rue. The prosecutor also filed a petition to detain Rue until the case concludes, citing him as a "real and present threat to the safety of person or the community." Rue remains in custody at the Tazewell County Jail, and as of April 29, 2025, his attorneys did not contest his detention. The court has ordered a mental fitness evaluation for Rue, and a preliminary hearing was set for May 22.
Chase Rhodes, born December 19, 2003, was a 2022 graduate of Pekin Community High School, where he was a member of the football team. At the time of his death, he had been employed at Alto in Pekin for five months, having previously worked at BTD Manufacturing in Washington. According to reports, all three young men were described as "good friends" prior to the tragic incident.
