The October trial in Kane County of two men accused in the 2011 stabbing of a man outside an Aurora liquor store has been delayed until next year.
Jason Ward, 33, and Luis Lomeli, 30, were expected to face a trial beginning Oct. 5. They are charged with attempted murder and other offenses in the May 2011 attack on a Bolingbrook man at La Villita Liquors. Authorities previously said the man was stabbed multiple times and had $300 taken from him during the incident which officials described as the beginning of a multi-county crime spree that ended with a murder in LaSalle County.
Ward’s attorney sought a postponement of the trial due to his own medical issues and related treatment. Kane County Judge James Hallock agreed to move Ward and Lomeli’s trial to Feb. 1, according to court records.
Last week, Joshua Ward, Jason Ward’s 34-year-old brother, pleaded guilty to a lesser count of fraudulent use of a credit card as part of an agreement with prosecutors. He was sentenced to 24 months of probation, as well as to pay fines, costs and restitution totaling nearly $1,300. Joshua Ward is currently serving a 30-year prison term for armed robbery in connection to the LaSalle killing. Jason Ward and Lomeli were sentenced to 30 and 45 years, respectively, for their murder convictions in that case.
In court filings seeking to have two juries hear the Aurora case, Lomeli’s attorney expressed concerns that Joshua Ward will “continue to minimize” his brother’s role in the incident.
Dan Campana is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News
