Two plead guilty in killing of DeKalb High School grad Marlon King Jr.

SYCAMORE – Tara McCarthy looked Carreon S. Scott and Jayden C. Hernandez in the eyes Wednesday as she tearfully told them that although their actions led to her son’s violent death, she did not wish them ill in return.

“I don’t know why I’ve gotta go through this,” McCarthy said as she wept. “I can’t bring him back.”

McCarthy, of Rockford, stood in a crowded courtroom and held a banner that depicted her son, Marlon King Jr.‚ 19, in his final years of life: Gripping a basketball, decked out proudly in his DeKalb High School Barbs uniform. King was shot to death May 11, 2023.

A young father and 2022 DeKalb High School graduate, he’d planned to start college that fall.

Scott and Hernandez both pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder in King’s killing. The initial first-degree murder charges were pleaded down, special prosecutor Derek Dion said. The men were scheduled to go to trial in front of a jury next month, almost two years after King’s murder.

“Believe it or not, I don’t wish nothing bad upon these two people. I don’t have that kind of heart,” McCarthy said. “I don’t care what I say out loud. That’s not me, that wasn’t Marlon. He wouldn’t even want nothing bad for you guys, honestly.”

[ Family of slain DeKalb High School grad Marlon King Jr.: ‘Don’t judge him.’ ]

During the emotional proceedings, McCarthy was supported by more than a dozen loved ones, family and friends of King who filled the gallery of Circuit Court Judge Philip Montgomery’s courtroom.

On the defendant’s side of the gallery, some appeared to sit in support of the co-defendants. A few called out “love you,” as Hernandez was escorted out by DeKalb County sheriff’s deputies.

Both men will spend at least the next decade in the Illinois Department of Corrections. McCarthy said her son grew up with them.

But a late-night altercation at an apartment on Russell Road at 11:14 p.m. May 11 took a turn for the worst. Three lives ended that day, King’s family previously said.

Scott pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. In return, Montgomery sentenced Scott to 23 years in prison: 20 years for the murder charge and three for the weapons charge. The 670 days he’s spent in the DeKalb County jail so far will be credited to his sentence. He’s not eligible for probation but was ordered a year of mandatory supervision when released.

He’s has to serve at least 50% of his sentence. That means Scott, 22, could get out of prison in about 10 years.

Both Scott and Hernandez already were convicted felons at the time of the shooting, prosecutors said. Felons aren’t allowed to have firearms in Illinois. Two months before King was killed, Scott pleaded guilty in March 2023 to possession of a firearm without a firearm owner’s identification card from a 2021 case, court records show. And Hernandez pleaded guilty to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in December 2022.

On Wednesday, Hernandez, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and one count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. Montgomery sentenced him to 15 years for the murder charge and three for the gun possession. Hernandez also is required to serve at least 50% of his sentence and gets credit for 671 days in jail. He could be about 30 by the time he’s released.

Scott was represented by public defender William Gibbs. Defense attorney Liam Dixon represented Hernandez.

The pair, who appeared separately, one after the other, did not speak except one-word responses to Montgomery’s questions as the hearings proceeded.

“Are you guilty? Did you do this?” Montgomery asked each of them. Both men replied, “Yes.”

King’s family asserts that he was at that apartment late in the night because he’d gotten a call from a friend who needed help. They said that King was not a violent person, despite the picture painted by court records of his final night alive.

Court records filed in the case allege that when Hernandez and Scott arrived, King was already inside the building, 432 Russell Road. It’s not clear what led them there in the first place. Scott began to argue with King, and a confrontation erupted into a fist fight, according to court records.

As the two men wrestled on the ground, gunshots rang out, according to court records. King was shot, and he allegedly fired a gun from his own pocket, hitting Scott in the leg. Prosecutors said Scott shot King and, as Hernandez wrestled a gun away from the two, Hernandez shot King again before bludgeoning King in the head with the gun, according to court records. Hernandez later fled the scene, police said.

Dion said Scott later confessed to police that he fired the weapon that killed King.

Hernandez appeared to look at McCarthy as she addressed him directly during her emotional statements.

She spoke of the hole that King’s killing left in her life and the lives of all who knew him. He was her first child. And shortly before he died, he’d recently had his first child, too. His girlfriend gave birth to their baby, Ari, in October 2020. King was killed 2½ years later.

“In my head of all heads, I think they would’ve got married,” McCarthy told the court, joking that they’d blamed the COVID-19 pandemic on the young pregnancy. “But they were remarkable. They graduated, honors, they were great. They were both great.”

A look at the late King’s journals – shared with Shaw Local News Network by his family – showed that the young father also was already thinking about the future.

“I’m 19 still in school and been on my job for [about] a year making 17 a hour doing part time,” King wrote. “I plan on attending college as well.”

In his diary, King pondered over dreams that many young folks wonder about.

He worked at the Target Distribution Center as a forklifter, and had jobs at Sonic, Walmart and as a lifeguard. He wrote about saving up $2,000 for his first apartment, and eventually planned to buy a home for his family. He wrote about using his birthday money to pay for it, and listed under “goals” plans to set up a home with a “TV, games, decorations, lights, plants, Wi-Fi.”

He’d planned to play basketball at Kishwaukee College, his mother said. He’d been doing it his whole life, first as a DeKalb Bengal in the local youth league, at Huntley Middle School and then as a Barb.

King wrote about wanting to take responsibility and be present for his girlfriend and their baby.

The summer before his death, King detailed his plans in his journal: He was about to get his high school diploma. “Raise credit score thru self and paying insurance, phone bills, etc,” he wrote. “Read more books,” he listed. “Stay in physical and emotional shape.” “Open Ari a savings account.”

Montgomery invited McCarthy to share more about her son’s life, asking her questions about his time playing basketball and fatherhood.

“At the end of the day, he’s gone, and it was senseless,” McCarthy said. “And I can’t get him back. And he was a great person in our society. We have to realize we don’t have good citizens like we used to. Marlon was a good citizen. Everybody knew. I just wanted you guys to know that at the end of the day, a great soul was lost.”