Here are some top stories that made headlines in DeKalb County in 2025, in no particular order:

Sycamore man confesses to killing his parents, police say

A Sycamore man was charged Sept. 29 with violently beating his parents to death inside their home.

Kevin A. Schmidt, 35, confessed to deputies with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office that he plotted his parents’ killings Sept. 28, believing his mother, Holly S. Schmidt, 59, and father, Gary A. Schmidt, 60, would “hold him hostage or kill him,” according to DeKalb County court records.

His father had taken away some car keys, and he told deputies that he interpreted that “as an act of aggression,” according to records.

Two days later, deputies found Holly and Gary dead inside their home in the 1300 block of Oakland Drive in Sycamore from apparent blunt-force trauma.

Soon after, with luggage and a backpack in his car, Schmidt was found by police near the Chicago Rockford International Airport. He was charged Sept. 30 with four counts of first-degree murder in his parents’ killings, according to court records. If convicted of the deaths of both his parents, he could face a life sentence.

The Schmidts were well-known and liked in the community by loved ones, neighbors and colleagues. Holly Schmidt was a longtime educator in Sycamore School District 427, and Gary Schmidt was a master carpenter.

Kevin Schmidt has not yet been arraigned but remains in custody without release pending trial, records show.

Massive data center approved for 560 acres in DeKalb

A massive data center by Endeavour Energy doing business as Edged was given the green light to build on 560 acres of land annexed into DeKalb in December.

The build – approved unanimously by the City Council – also called Project Vector, could take years. The series of votes came less than a month after the project was made public. Public meetings were packed with locals, some for and against the center. Dozens spoke for hours before the City Council vote.

The data center campus will be built just south of Meta’s DeKalb Data Center, with fewer buildings but on more land. Edged will have four data center campus buildings and two electrical substations on land both east and west sides of Illinois State Route 23, north of Keslinger Road and west of Crego Road, records show.

Endeavour Energy – which also has a data center in Aurora – plans to rent out its data center servers to another technology user. The identity of that company isn’t yet known to the public.

Former Chicago man found guilty of double murder of Sycamore mother, son, almost decade later

In January, Jonathan D. Hurst, an Ohio man formerly of Chicago, was found guilty after an almost two-week-long trial of the 2016 double murder of elderly Sycamore woman Patricia Wilson and her son Robert Wilson.

He’d previously pleaded not guilty, denied ever being in Sycamore and did not offer testimony in his defense at his long-awaited trial. But he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison, a judge ruled.

Hurst, 55, was found guilty of first-degree murder and home invasion, almost nine years after Patricia, 85, and her son Robert, 64, who lived with her and took care of her, were found bludgeoned to death inside their rural Sycamore home, 16058 Old State Road. The Wilsons lived there since the 1970s.

Over the course of several days, prosecutors walked the jury through gruesome details that showed Hurst had been inside the Wilson home at the time of their killings. His DNA was found on several items inside their home. Cellphone records placed him in Sycamore at the time, and Patricia’s car was found blocks from where he’d lived in Chicago in August 2016.

He was sentenced to natural life in prison for the double murder.

DeKalb man pleads guilty, gets 52 years for murder of 15-year-old girl

Days before his trial was to convene, Timothy M. Doll, of DeKalb, pleaded guilty in February to murdering DeKalb High School freshman Gracie Sasso-Cleveland.

The 15-year-old was found dead inside a dumpster near Doll’s apartment in May 2023. Authorities said she was suffocated to death on May 4 by Doll’s hands after an argument.

He was sentenced in August.

“Mr. Doll, you treated her no better than you would an ordinary sack of trash,” Circuit Court Judge Philip Montgomery said before sentencing the man to 52 years in prison for first-degree murder.

“But she was just not a sack of trash for you to throw away,” Montgomery said. “She was a young woman with dreams and aspirations. [...] You stole her innocence. And ultimately, you stole her life.”

Guilty pleas in shooting death of DeKalb High School grad Marlon King Jr.

Marlon King Jr.‚ 19, a 2022 DeKalb High School graduate and young father, was shot to death on May 11, 2023.

In March, the two men responsible, Carreon S. Scott and Jayden C. Hernandez, pleaded guilty and were sentenced.

Scott and Hernandez both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in King’s killing. The initial first-degree murder charges were pleaded down, special prosecutor Derek Dion said. The men were scheduled to go to trial in front of a jury in April, almost two years after King’s murder.

Both men will spend at least the next decade in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Potawatomi to reclaim tribal land in DeKalb County

More than 175 years after their reservation in Illinois was illegally sold at auction, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation now is in line to get their land back.

Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation in March authorizing the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to hand over to the tribe the ownership title to Shabbona Lake State Park, a 1,500-acre tract in southern DeKalb County that largely overlaps the tribe’s original reservation.

“This moment reflects the power of collaboration and the shared desire to build a future rooted in justice and respect,” Prairie Band Potawatomi Chairman Joseph ‘Zeke” Rupnick said in a statement. “Illinois has shown true courage and vision by leading the way in the Land Back movement, demonstrating that healing and reconciliation are possible.”

Although ownership of the land will revert back to the tribe, visitors to the park should not notice any difference, at least not for now.

Sycamore boy opens compliment stand

A heartwarming take on an activity baked into the fabric of American summertime culture was found on select days this summer in a Sycamore neighborhood.

Ethan Wargo, 9, set up what he calls a compliment stand for a couple of days this July. He welcomed dozens of “customers.”

Instead of receiving a cup of lemonade or psychiatric help in the mode of Peanuts’ Lucy, Wargo gave out compliments. He said he was inspired by characters in a “Dogman” novel – a spin-off from the children’s “Captain Underpants” novel series – who operated an insult stand.

Wargo’s twin sister, Claire Wargo, also operated her own stand selling her artwork.

“No matter what, you can have a good life, but if you want people to like you and you want to have an even better life, ... you have to have good social knowledge,” Ethan said.

Local protests critical of Trump’s America erupt as part of major national movement that defined 2025

The inauguration of President Donald Trump for his second term in January set off a far-reaching series of swift changes that have trickled down throughout northern Illinois, including federal job and funding cuts, changes and uncertainty for programs such as Head Start and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement campaigns.

The “No Kings” protest movement emerged as one of the region’s most sustained and visible expressions of political dissent, drawing thousands of participants to cities and counties large and small.

“No Kings” events became emblematic of local resistance to federal policies under the Trump administration, with crowds voicing concerns over immigration enforcement, the erosion of democratic norms and broader civil liberties.

In DeKalb and Sycamore, “No Kings” and “Hands Off” protests drew thousands over the course of several planned demonstrations this year. Some focused on pro-immigration messaging, or supported marginalized communities, trans and women’s rights. Others offered pro-union sentiment, and railed against policy that some argued were harmful to the country’s most vulnerable, higher education and the rule of law.

DeKalb mayor elected to second term (and other election headlines)

In a political year defined by unrest and partisan clashing at the federal level, local elections saw some significant headlines, too.

Voters in the spring cast ballots for the next leaders of their communities, schools, townships, fire departments, parks and libraries.

DeKalb incumbent Mayor Cohen Barnes secured a second term over 3 challengers including two sitting aldermen, the first in 32 years to secure a consecutive term.

Newcomer Jonathan “Cole” Regnery unseated 12-year incumbent Eric Jones to get a spot on the Sycamore School District 427 board. In DeKalb, four newbies won seats on the DeKalb School District 428 board.

Ex-cop gets 4 years for DUI crash that killed DeKalb woman

James M. Corralejo of DeKalb, was sentenced by a judge in July to four years in prison for driving drunk and causing a 2023 crash that killed DeKalb mother and grandmother Graciela Reza-Contreras, 59. He pleaded guilty May 7 to aggravated DUI causing death, a Class 2 felony. He faced three to 14 years.

Corralejo hugged his mother as he was taken into custody, and mouthed “I’m sorry” to Graciela’s family as he was led out.

“I want the court to know that my mother did not deserve to be taken from the world the way that she did by you, an irresponsible drunk driver, an irresponsible off-duty police officer who should have known better,” Lorena Flores said during the sentencing.

At the time of the crash, Corralejo was employed as a patrol officer with the South Holland Police Department in suburban Cook County.