Nearly a month after Kane County Judge James Hallock ordered Shadwick King to serve 30 years in prison for the 2014 murder of his wife, King wants his sentence to be reconsidered or reduced.
In a motion filed Tuesday, King’s attorney, Kane County public defender Kelli Childress, claims Hallock improperly considered certain evidence and testimony at King’s July 31 sentencing while also failing to give proper weight to mitigating factors, such as the financial impact of King’s imprisonment. In a second motion, Childress contends Hallock didn’t explain his reasons for sentencing King to 30 years. He faced 20 to 60 years.
“Upon sentencing (King) to 30 years in prison — 10 years in excess of the minimum sentence — (Hallock) failed to specify on the record the particular evidence, aggravation, mitigation and other reasons which led to his determination of sentence,” Childress wrote in the motion.
A hearing on the issue is scheduled for Friday. Hallock previously denied King’s request for a new trial. Childress previously indicated King’s conviction would be appealed.
A jury in March convicted King of killing his wife, Kathleen, in July 2014 after learning she was in a relationship with a younger man. Kathleen King’s body was found on railroad tracks not far from the couple’s Geneva home. Prosecutors said King strangled his wife and then left her body on the tracks. King’s defense team offered several theories for how Kathleen King died, including a fall while running on the tracks or an undetected medical ailment.
King is currently being held at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill. He is not eligible for parole until 2044.
Dan Campana is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News