A teenager found guilty in February of second-degree murder in the 2023 fatal stabbing of Sycamore 17-year-old Kaleb McCall has filed a motion for a new trial, court records show.

A jury found Hamza Khatatbeh, 17, guilty of second-degree murder in McCall’s death after a three-day trial on Feb. 20. He’d initially faced first-degree murder charges and a significantly longer prison sentence if convicted.

He was also found guilty of armed violence and aggravated battery. All convictions were for adult charges.

Khatatbeh was 15 and a sophomore at Sycamore High School when he stabbed McCall in the chest in the parking lot outside Old National Bank in downtown Sycamore on Sept. 7, 2023. Khatatbeh himself testified during trial that he did the stabbing. He said he didn’t know McCall before he stabbed him with a pocket knife.

McCall’s loved ones have remembered him as excited for the future in anticipation of graduating, kind to those around him and an avid outdoorsman, enjoying activities like fishing, biking and skateboarding.

The stabbing happened after two separate groups of teenagers – one with Khatatbeh and one with McCall – met in the bank parking lot.

In a video shown to the jury, Khatatbeh and McCall appeared to attempt to strike each other about the same time. McCall used his fist. Khatabeh used a knife that pierced Kaleb’s right side. McCall died hours later at a nearby hospital.

Khatatbeh’s sentencing has been set for 1 p.m. May 27 in front of Circuit Court Associate Judge Stephanie Klein.

He’d have faced at least 20 years in prison on a first-degree conviction. Guilty of second-degree murder, a lesser offense, Khatatbeh now faces between four and 20 years in prison. And since he’s a minor and won’t turn 18 until August, he likely would serve his initial time at a juvenile detention facility.

He remains held in custody without release at River Valley Juvenile Justice Center in Joliet, where he’s been since his September 2023 arrest.

Klein is expected to hear arguments on the motion for a new trial during a post-sentence hearing at 9 a.m. on April 23. Khatatbeh’s defense lawyers, Brandon Brown and Jim Ryan, filed the motion on March 20, records show.

In the filing, the defense argues that Khatatbeh is entitled to a new trial on a second-degree murder charge only. The defense also asked that the case be transferred back to juvenile court for sentencing. The motion asks Klein to vacate Khatatbeh’s guilty convictions of armed violence and aggravated battery.

The motion also states much of what Brown argued during trial: That Khatatbeh acted in self-defense in fear of his life after being bullied by a group of older teenagers.

But special prosecutor Derek Dion argued in trial that the stabbing should’ve never happened. He argued an unarmed McCall’s death was avoidable, and Khatatbeh unfairly brought a knife to an apparent fist fight watched by teenagers who didn’t get along.

In his response to Brown’s motion for a new trial, Dion argues in a March 27 court filing that Khatatbeh’s sentencing should remain in adult court. He argues proceedings should remain underway after a jury found Khatatbeh “unlawfully murdered another minor using a deadly weapon,” Dion states.

Klein is expected to hear arguments and could rule on the matter April 23.

Presentence report not done yet

Also ordered by Judge Klein, a presentencing report hasn’t yet been completed, records show.

The report is a common step for those convicted of a crime before a judge hands down a sentence. It can often include details such as character references from people who might know Khatatbeh, assessments on a person’s ability to be rehabilitated, past criminal history, details about the crime, and remarks from the defendant.

But Khatatbeh has refused to meet with pre-sentence investigators for an interview without his attorney present, March 24 court filings show.

The pre-sentence interview was originally scheduled for March 3. When the interviewer came to speak with Khatatbeh, the teenager told him his attorneys had advised him not to say anything without them there.

The hearing officer attempted to contact Brown multiple times between March 4 and March 10, records show. On March 11, Brown told the hearing officer he wished to be present for Khatatbeh’s interview, according to the filing.

“Attorney Brown expressed concern regarding the length of the interview and the defendant’s attention span due to the defendant being a minor,” the officer wrote in the court filing.

The officer agreed to divide the interview into two sessions in the same week.

Klein ordered the report to be filed by May 22, “with or without contribution from the defendant,” according to a filing from a March 30 hearing.