An Illinois mother was shot and killed Monday morning in Momence, Illinois, by a suspect with a “criminal history spanning decades,” according to WGN-TV.
NBC Chicago reported that the mother, 30-year-old Courtney Drysdale, was shot “execution style” around 11:00 a.m. while opening a local bar called “The Line.” While she was going through her routine an armed suspect approached her and demanded money. She complied but was shot anyway.
WGN-TV identified the shooting suspect as 47-year-old Julius E. Burkes, Jr.
Burkes was “charged with residential entry, a level 6 felony,” for allegedly breaking into the home of an ex-girlfriend on December 21, 2025. Prior to that, he “was charged in a criminal case in Kankakee County in 2014 for battery” and had an order of protection granted against him in 2017. He “had 11 traffic cases filed against him in Kankakee County between 2014 and 2019, records show.”
The Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office commented on Drysdale’s murder, saying, “This type of violent behavior has no place in our society, and I am extremely appreciative of the overwhelming support we received from the public, the media as well as our partners in the criminal justice system near and far.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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