One of La Salle County’s youngest-ever convicted murderers is back in court. Tamil Adams plans to argue (again) he was wrongly convicted of killing a Streator woman.

Adams, now 24, made his first appearance Thursday in La Salle County Circuit Court on a new batch of post-trial motions. He applied for and was granted the services of the Public Defender’s Office and will next appear, with counsel, on July 9.

Adams had previously appealed his murder conviction, which was upheld in 2021. Now, he alleges in a handwritten pleading various errors at trial. Barring a reversal and new trial, Adams will be paroled in 2053. He would be 51 years of age.

Adams was one of three people charged with murder following the fatal shooting of Maria Dellatore of Streator. According to testimony at Adams’ murder trial, he and two cohorts attempted to rob a low-level drug dealer of cash and drugs. Dellatore had returned home during the melee and was fatally struck in the exchange of gunfire.

At trial, Adams’ lawyers argued there were multiple shots fired and that no witness could categorically say who shot and killed Dellatore.

However, one of his fellow murder suspects, Hashim Waite, agreed to testify against Adams in exchange for a plea on a reduced charge of home invasion and a sentence of 30 years. (A third suspect, getaway driver Ashanti Roberts, was convicted of murder as an accessory and was sentenced to 35 years.)

Adams was 16 years old when he was arrested for murder. He is, however, neither the youngest person charged with murder in La Salle County history nor is he the youngest convicted.