Author: Fox Valley Magazine

On the evening of January 14, 2018, Naperville resident Michal Armendariz was murdered execution-style, with two shots to the back of the head, in an SUV five miles from his apartment. Yesterday, a jury found a former Rockford man, 27-year-old Ernest Collins, guilty in the murder. The jury returned their guilty verdicts after approximately one and one half hours of deliberations following a four-day-long trial in front of Judge Michael Reidy. Additionally, the jury also found Collins guilty of Armed Robbery with a Firearm, a Class X Felony. Collins is one of three individuals charged with the murder. At approximately…

Downtown Aurora’s First Fridays monthly event will celebrate 10 years next Friday, October 6. Participating venues will offer discounts and specials along with art, music, and more.  To celebrate Black Fine Art Month, Pigment International will host a Downtown Art Crawl, from 5 to 7 p.m. starting at 33 S. Stolp Ave. In partnership with the African American Heritage Advisory Board, Pigment International will host the art crawl during First Fridays which will include visits to Black-owned businesses who have partnered with Black artists to showcase their work. The Art Crawl is designed to bring the Aurora community into the…

A convicted felon currently on parole out of Cook County on an Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon Conviction was arrested Tuesday evening after Naperville police observed a loaded weapon in his vehicle. DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Naperville Chief of Police Jason Arres announced Wednesday that Judge Joshua Dieden has granted the State’s motion to keep the suspect detained prior to trial under Illinois’ new “no cash bail” law that went into effect earlier this month. The 34-year-old suspect was charged with one count of Armed Habitual Criminal (Class X Felony) and one count of Unlawful Possession…

A 69-year-old women is dead after falling victim to a hit-and-run driver on Aurora’s West Side early Wednesday morning. According to a police report, the woman, identified as Annie Kpa, of the 2000 block of Lilac Lane in Aurora, was walking in the roadway on Galena Boulevard west of Barnes Road in the early morning hours when she was struck by a vehicle who then left the scene. When Aurora Police Department and Aurora Fire Department personnel arrived at around 1:56am, they found the woman suffering from serious injuries. She was subsequently pronounced deceased on the scene. The intersection of…

The Fox Valley Trolley Museum will be hosting its Oktoberfest celebration this weekend beginning Friday at 6pm, full of German food, beer, music, and, of course, trolley rides. The event will include musical performances (heavy on the polka), Ream’s Wurst Wagon selling German sausages and pretzels, a 50/50 raffle and lots and lots of beer. Here’s the entertainment lineup: DateMusicOther EventsFriday, September 296pm to 10pmThe Polkaholics – a Rock & Polka Band, a high energy mix of old and new! Saturday, September 3012pm to 10pm12pm to 6pm: Adi the DJ3:30pm to 6:30pm: Frank Kay Duo7pm to 10pm: Wagner Brass Band12pm to…

A 48-year-old Aurora man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for sexually abusing a child over a six year period. Martin Zaca agreed to the sentence in exchange for a guilty plea to the offense of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, Class 2 felony (2 counts). Judge John A. Barsanti accepted the plea. Prosecutors presented evidence that between January 2005 and December 2011 Zaca sexually abused a child younger than 13 years old. “I am grateful to this victim/survivor for the trust she showed in us throughout this prosecution, for her bravery in disclosing the abuse she endured, and…

After running a red light on McDonald Road in Campton Hills, an SUV was hit by a semi-trailer truck Monday afternoon, killing its 69-year-old driver. Authorities called to the scene located a black Ford Escape off the roadway on the northeast corner of the intersection of McDonald Road and IL Route 47 in Campton Hills, and a Kenworth semi-trailer truck with a loaded 53′ trailer on the northwest corner, also off the road. The preliminary investigation and witness accounts revealed the Ford Escape was traveling westbound on McDonald Road and failed to stop for the stop sign. The vehicle entered…

Naperville’s Brightside Theatre will present Stephen Sondheim’s romantic musical farce A Little Night Music beginning Friday, October 20 and running through Sunday, November 5, at Meiley-Swallow Hall, North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth in Naperville. At the turn of the 20th Century, Desiree Armfeldt, a renowned traveling actress, is growing weary of her life on the road. A chance encounter with an old flame sets in motion a series of romantic misadventures that culminate in a madcap weekend in the country where couples waltz, passions erupt, jealousies flare, and hilarity triumphs over all as the summer night smiles on the…

A St. Charles Township man has been sentenced to 11 in prison for the sexual abuse of a child. On June 28, 2023, Kane County Judge Alice Tracy found 35-year-old Jesus J. Maciel Facio guilty of the offenses of Predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a Class X felony; Aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony (3 counts), and Indecent solicitation of a child, a Class 3 felony. Maciel Facio had waived his right to a jury trial. Yesterday, Tracy sentenced Maciel Facio to 11 years of imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections. “I hope this prison…

A deputy in the Kendall County Sheriff’s office called it the worst scene he had ever witnessed. That scene involved the remains of a 66-year-old woman, Paulette Boyce, who, at the time of her death, weighed only 65 pounts and had 20 separate areas of skin lesions on her body, two of which went down to her bones. She was discovered in the Montgomery home of her daughter and caregiver, Jennifer Ashton, in December 2016. Today, Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis announced that Ashton and her husband Craig, both 48 years old, have been found guilty on eight counts…