Skip to main content
Clear icon
67Āŗ

Man is found fit to go on trial in attacks that killed 4 in Rockford, Illinois

FILE - This photo provided by the Winnebago County, Ill., Sheriff's Office shows Christian Soto. Soto, the man charged with killing four people and injuring seven others during a series of frenzied attacks in a neighborhood in Rockford, Ill., was found fit Thursday, May 23, 2024 to stand trial. (Winnebago County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) (Uncredited)

ROCKFORD, Ill. ā€“ A man was found fit Thursday to stand trial on charges of killing four people and injuring seven others during a series of frenzied attacks in a neighborhood in Rockford, Illinois.

The judge had ordered a psychiatric evaluation in April for Christian Soto, 22, who is accused of stabbing, beating or driving over the victims in March. He is charged with first-degree murder and other counts.

Recommended Videos



Winnebago County Judge Debra Schafer said Thursday at Soto's arraignment hearing that she had reviewed a doctorā€™s finding that he was fit for trial and said she agreed.

Sotoā€™s attorney, Glenn Jazwiec, said his client was waiving a formal reading of the charges and pleading not guilty. Schafer ordered him to remain detained and set a July 24 status hearing for Soto, who appeared in court by video link.

He is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder and home invasion with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors allege he killed Romona Schupbach, 63; Jacob Schupbach, 23; Jay Larson, 49; and Jenna Newcomb, 15, in the March 27 attacks in Rockford, a city of over 140,000 about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northwest of Chicago.

Authorities have said they havenā€™t determined a motive.

Winnebago County prosecutor J. Hanley has said Soto told police he had smoked marijuana with Jacob Schupbach and believed the drugs ā€œwere laced with an unknown narcoticā€ that made him paranoid.

Soto first fatally stabbed Schupbach and his mother, then beat, stabbed and used a truck to run over Larson, who was working as a mail carrier, authorities said. He next wounded three people inside one home and beat Newcomb, her sister and a friend with a baseball bat inside another home, according to authorities. The attacks happened within a matter of minutes.

Soto was arrested as he fled another home where he had stabbed a woman but had been slowed by a driver who stopped to intervene, authorities said.


Loading...

Recommended Videos