Hung Jury Declared In Trial Of Former Illinois Football Star
Jim Suhr/Associated Press
A judge has declared a hung jury in the trial of a former Illinois prosecutor and U of I football captain charged with murder in the Valentine's Day 2006 death of his first wife.
The Quincy Herald-Whig and KHQA-TV reported that Judge Bob Hardwick declared a mistrial Friday evening in the trial of Curtis Lovelace. Jurors began deliberations Thursday but could not reach a verdict.
Lovelace pleaded not guilty. His retrial has been set for May 31.
The 47-year-old former University of Illinois center and assistant state's attorney had said he found Cory Lovelace dead in bed after dropping off three of their children at school.
An initial autopsy on the 38-year-old woman was inconclusive. Prosecutors argued that subsequent forensic tests and photographic evidence determined the mother of four died from suffocation.