Julius E. Burkes Jr., the man accused of killing Courtney M. Drysdale earlier this week, on Wednesday waived extradition from Indiana.

The 47-year-old Burkes was in a Lake County, Indiana, court.

Burkes is charged with shooting the 30-year-old Drysdale on Monday inside The Line bar and grill located at the Illinois/Indiana state line.

He was taken into custody by law enforcement Tuesday at his residence in Hammond, Indiana.

Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey said earlier this week that Burkes is accused of shooting Drysdale twice, execution-style.

The bar opened at 11 a.m., and deputies responded shortly before noon Monday after someone discovered Drysdale.

She has owned the establishment since 2022.

Downey said Thursday the investigation remains open and investigators continue following up.

“There’s a lot of things that our investigators continue to do. This case is still an open investigation, active investigation. They’re still following up on a lot of things,” Downey said.

Once that is done, Downey said they will take their findings to Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe to review before charges are filed.

Since Burkes crossed state lines, the case could end up in the hands of federal prosecutors, officials said.

Rowe said they will look into asking the U.S. Attorney General’s office in Illinois to file federal charges against Burkes.

“I haven’t seen the reports yet, so I don’t know whether there would be federal jurisdiction or not. That still needs to be flushed out,” Rowe said.

“But we will explore all options with our federal law-enforcement partners to get the most justice for [Ms. Drysdale],” Rowe said.

Burkes has a prior murder conviction in Illinois.

Although he was 15 at the time the murder took place in April 1994 in Cook County, Burkes was tried as an adult.

He pleaded guilty and received a 37-year prison sentence, according to records.

Rowe said back then under state guidelines, a person convicted of murder served 50% of the sentence.

Burkes was currently out on bail for a Lake County, Indiana, arrest charged with residential entry in January. According to court records, Burkes’ next court date is Feb. 26.

According to Kankakee County court records, Burkes has had several traffic cases.