Suspect in fatal shooting of Momence bar owner Courtney Drysdale waives extradition at court hearing
The man accused of shooting and killing a Momence bar owner, execution style, will remain in Indiana.
Julius Burkes Jr, 47, waived his extradition to Illinois before a judge during a hearing at the Lake County Courthouse on Wednesday morning to face charges in the murder of 30-year-old Courtney Drysdale.
"People who contest extradition lose 99% of the time. There's really not a lot of issues in an extradition hearing," said Legal Analyst Irv Miller.
Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter said Burkes is already on bond in Indiana.
An investigation by CBS Chicago found that he was accused of burglarizing a home in Crown Point in December of last year. With that, the judge at Wednesday's hearing ruled that he will not be extradited until this case is resolved.
Miller said that's an agreement between the state of Indiana and Illinois.
"There's what's known as an interstate compact that just about every state in this country has signed off to," he said.
Kankakee County Sheriff's deputies, along with U.S. Marshals, were brought in to arrest Burkes at his Hammond home on suspicion of murder. Authorities said that he was taken into custody as he was leaving his home.
The arrest came 26 hours after investigators released surveillance images, including a photo of the vehicle used by the suspect, taken from outside the bar, and a $5,000 reward.
Drysdale was shot and killed around 11 a.m. while opening up the bar she owned, The Line, located at 17969 Illinois 114 in a rural area outside Momence, right west of the Illinois-Indiana state line.
Her best friend, Hailey Gershon, said that after the capture of Burkes, it felt like some of the weight was lifted.
"It feels a little bit like a weight has been lifted off the shoulders. I bet other people feel like that, too. We're finally getting Courtney and her family this justice that's deserved," she said.
In addition to December's burglary case, Burkes was also convicted in a double homicide in Illinois in 1994 and sentenced to 37-years in prison.
In 2014, he pleaded guilty to battery. In 2017, an order of protection was filed against him, and in 2022, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence.
"He has a decision to make. He's willing to waive extradition. Now it's in the hands of the Lake County, Indiana, authorities, whether or not they want to prosecute him and delay the inevitable, or drop the case in Indiana, which means Kankakee can come and pick him up right away," Miller said.
Burkes will remain at Lake County Jail in Crown Point. Miller said the state of Illinois will not accept him until his burglary case has been resolved. How long that will take remains unclear.