Convicted child murderer Cayce Williams is expected to walk out of the Dixon Correctional Center Thursday, the same day Quortney Kley’s family marks the 24th anniversary of her death.
Jesse Kley, Quortney’s father, will be there, protesting the Elgin man’s release, and he’s hoping others will be joining him.
“I just want him to see this isn’t over,” Kley said. “She’s not forgotten. He took somebody from us. We aren’t forgetting.”
Williams is being released after serving half of his 48-year term for the sexual assault and murder of the 20-month-old toddler in 1997.
The child was the daughter of his then-girlfriend, whom he was babysitting while her mother was at work. He was arrested shortly after bringing Quortney to an Elgin hospital with severe injuries.
Hospital personnel became suspicious about how she came to be hurt and contacted police. An autopsy showed Quortney died of blunt force trauma.
Williams faced the death penalty when he was first charged with first-degree murder and predatory criminal sexual assault. He pleaded guilty to murder in 2006 after spending nine years in the Kane County jail, an unusually long time caused by Williams repeatedly firing his lawyers.
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At the time the crimes were committed, Williams was required to serve 85% of his sentence if convicted of criminal sexual assault and 100% of a murder sentence under the then-newly enacted Truth-in-Sentencing law.
Two years later, the law was found to be unconstitutional. As a result, Williams would be required to serve only 50% of his sentence before being eligible for release — something Kley said he did not know at the time of the plea deal.
“My main thing is when they did this plea agreement, the state’s attorney’s office did not tell us he could only serve half the time. Otherwise, I would not have agreed to this,” he said.
Now living out of state, Kley has set up a Facebook post with details about his planned protest. He also started an online petition encouraging people to join him at the prison on the day of Williams’ release.
“How are his rights more important than Quortney’s?” the petition asks.
The family wants to see Williams’ mental health evaluated before he’s released, it stated. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board oversees Williams’ release and sets mandatory parole conditions but cannot prevent his release if he has served his prison term.
Kley said he’s been frustrated at many points of Williams’ criminal case, particularly Williams’ failure to show any remorse for his actions.
Ultimately, he wants his young daughter to never be forgotten, he said.
“She’s still here with us. She’s not going away,” Kley said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
