9/22/2022
A former Waukegan police officer has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a man during a 2020 police chase, and is also facing charges for using excessive force while arresting a man at a family baptism in 2019.
Dante Salinas has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter in the Oct. 20, 2020, shooting death of Marcellis Stinnette death, according to Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart.
Salinas shot and killed Stinnette and wounded his girlfriend, Tafara Williams, on Oct. 20, 2020, during a chase after they’d fled an earlier stop in Waukegan.
“My grandson’s blood is crying out from the grave, ‘Grandma, we need justice!’, and we’re finally getting justice,” said Stinette’s grandmother, Sherrellis Stinnette.
Williams was seriously injured in the same shooting, but survived. She is now charged with aggravated fleeing in connection with the incident.
Salinas also is charged with one count of aggravated battery and two counts of official misconduct in connection with his August 2019 arrest of Angel Salgado.
“These two separate incidents demonstrate that Mr. Salinas has not lived up to the standards of his brother and sister officers,” Rinehart said. “Angel, Marcellis, and every resident of Lake County have the moral and legal right to be safe.”
Salinas surrendered to authorities on Thursday and a judge ordered that he be held on $350,000 bond, prosecutors said. Second-degree murder carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and manslaughter carries a maximum term of five years. If Salinas is convicted of both charges, the sentences would run concurrently.
Douglas Zeit, an attorney who represented Salinas in court on Thursday, declined to comment when reached by phone.
Williams has been charged with aggravated fleeing. She turned herself in to authorities as well and a judge ordered that she be released on a $50,000 recognizance bond.
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