Milby: Suicide by cop or school shooting thwarted?

DIXON – The defense: Dixon High School shooter Matthew Milby Jr. took a gun to school that day in May 2018 hoping he’d be shot and killed, he later told one of his doctors. Suicide by cop.

He was “… a boy who, because of his own personal demons, decided to bring a gun to school,” Public Defender Tom Murray said, adding that Milby had plenty of opportunity to shoot people that day, but he shot at gym teacher Andrew McKay when McKay startled Milby as he was walking out of a bathroom, smoking a joint.

“He was incapable of forming a plan that day,” Murray said.

The prosecution: Milby took an Uzi 9 mm Luger to school to shoot someone and then escape: He had a plan to do so, as is evidenced by the hundreds of rounds of ammo, the loaded magazine and the more than $10,000 in cash police found in his car in nearby Page Park.

“It is a miracle that Andrew McKay is still alive today,” Lee County Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Brim said.

Those were the two sides proffered Tuesday on the first day of a discharge hearing for Milby, now 22, who in February was once again found unfit to stand trial, and judged unlikely to regain mental fitness over the course of the next year.

A discharge hearing is similar to a bench trial in that the judge, rather than a jury, hears the evidence against a defendant, but it’s not guilt that is determined, it’s whether the defendant should be acquitted – whether he is not guilty, or not not guilty.

If Milby is not acquitted, he will be turned over to the state Department of Human Services for treatment for up to 2 years, with periodic status checks. If his fitness, as determined by the court, is restored during that time, the state can proceed to trial, which is State’s Attorney Charley Boonstra’s goal.

If he is not found to be mentally fit after 2 years, though, the charges will be dropped, and the state could ask the court to order a civil, or involuntary, commitment. If granted, Milby could be ordered into treatment for the same term as the maximum sentence he faces, which in this case is 80 years, with no day-for-day credit or time off for good behavior.

Milby has been hospitalized several times since his arrest on May 16, 2018, and twice was found unfit to stand trial, twice ruled recovered and able to aid in his own defense, most recently on Nov. 24.

His fitness, doctors have testified, ebbs and flows depending on his willingness to eat and to take his medication, aimed at helping his schizotypal personality disorder. He has delusions about food that cause him to starve himself.

On Feb. 2, Murray asked for another fitness evaluation. At the Feb. 10 hearing, which was closed to the public, Ogle County Judge John Redington again ruled Milby unfit, and Boonstra filed a motion seeking the discharge hearing.

Tuesday, multiple witnesses and investigators took the stand to confirm much of what school and police video showed: Matt Milby took the weapon to school the morning of graduation practice, shot at and missed gym teacher Andrew McKay, and was pursued by then-school resource officer Mark Dallas.

Milby shot at Dallas, then was himself shot in the shoulder and hip before surrendering at his car, Dallas testified Tuesday.

He also testified that he had known Milby for some time – Milby was friends with one of Dallas’ sons, had spent the night at the Dallases before, was coached by Dallas – which made the event even more traumatizing, Dallas said.

Once he had the then-19-year-old on the ground, he started yelling at him, Dallas said. “Is this how you pay me back for what I’ve done for you? Is this how you treat your school?”

It was Milby’s DNA on the gun, Milby’s blood in the car, forensic reports showed. Spent rounds matched the Uzi, state crime lab expert Julie Steele testified.

Murray called no witnesses. Redington ruled that Milby could not testify on his own behalf because he is not competent to knowingly invoke his right not to incriminate himself, known as taking the Fifth.

Murray submitted a medical report instead, which Redington will read before hearing closing arguments Wednesday morning.