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Top Regional News: 1 new COVID death, 75 new cases in Peoria area

The Register-Mail - 2/26/2021

Feb. 27—The following stories are among today's top news of central Illinois.

1 new COVID death, 75 new cases in Peoria area

PEORIA — A Peoria County woman has died after being infected with the COVID-19 virus, public health officials said Thursday.

The woman, who was in her 90s, lived at Lutheran Hillside Village. Her death is the county's 255th since the pandemic began in March. Overall, the Tri-County Area has lost 554 of its residents to the virus. The death comes after two consecutive days in which the area reported no new deaths.

Health officials also reiterated on Thursday that because of a tightened supply of vaccine, it would not be expanding vaccinations to the "phase 1B-plus" category that includes adults younger than 65 with various other health conditions.

Gov. JB Pritzker authorized that vaccination expansion beginning Thursday, but some health agencies have held off because of lower vaccine supplies. Pritzker said in Peoria on Wednesday that by mid-March a more robust supply is expected to be flowing daily into the state.

The area also saw 75 new cases of COVID confirmed Thursday, including 31 for Peoria County, which now has had 16,971 total positive tests. Woodford County added 16 to reach 3,688. Tazewell County now has had 13,476, an addition of 28 new cases.

Check pjstar.com for more on this story.

Tazewell County dismissed from lawsuits against dad of accused Waffle House shooter

PEKINTazewell County has been dismissed as a defendant in five civil lawsuits arising from the alleged murders of four people by Travis Reinking in Tennessee three years ago.

Reinking, 31, is the son of Jeffrey Reinking, of rural Morton, who returned to him a firearm that he allegedly used in the mass shooting at the Nashville Waffle House in April 2018 that also left several others injured.

Family members of the victims filed suits in Tazewell County accusing the older Reinking of recklessly returning to his son four firearms that the Tazewell County Sheriff's Department had confiscated from Travis Reinking, who, at the time, had recently undergone in-house mental health treatment.

Illinois law prohibits giving or selling a firearm to someone who has been a mental health facility patient within five years of the transaction.

The families alleged the sheriff's department was also liable for financial penalties because it turned the weapons, including an AR-15 rifle used in the shootings, over to Jeffrey Reinking's custody.

An attorney for the county argued in a Jan. 15 hearing that the county held no liability for Jeffrey Reinking's decision to give the weapons back to his son, who lived in Tennessee, where no FOID-related restrictions exist. Circuit Judge Paul Gilfillan granted the county's motion for dismissal on Feb. 18.

Jeffrey Reinking, 56, remains criminally charged in Tazewell County with unlawful delivery of a firearm, punishable by up to three years in prison. He's next due in court March 11.

His son remains in custody on murder charges in Tennessee.

Check pekintimes.com for more on this story.

2 teens arrested on homicide charges related to gun shop break-in

PEORIA — Two minors were arrested here this week in connection with the death of a Peoria teen during a botched robbery last month at a gun store in Galesburg.

One of the teens, 17, was arrested on Tuesday, while the other, 15, was arrested on Thursday. Both were initially taken to the Peoria County Juvenile Detention Center, according to Peoria police spokeswoman Amy Dotson.

Galesburg Police Chief Russ Idle said the teens are facing charges of burglary and first-degree murder in connection with the Jan. 6 incident at Galesburg Guns and Ammo.

The boys are charged under the state's felony murder provision, which holds that they are legally responsible for 17-year-old Daryl Keller's death even though they didn't shoot him.

It was the shop owner who fired several shots at the group of teens who allegedly broke into the business late at night, but under that portion of state law, because the death occurred while the teens allegedly were committing a crime they bear responsibility for the death as a result.

Idle said the store owner has not been charged in connection with the shooting. The state's attorney's office in Knox County is reviewing the matter. Three others, Jakobe D. Brown, Dominick Booker and Dewand Wilson all face similar charges.

Check galesburg.com for more on this story.

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