911 calls released in New Baden murder case as suspect waives another hearing
NEW BADEN, Ill. (First Alert 4) - Six weeks after a shooting in a small Metro East village left a 24-year-old woman dead, First Alert 4 has retrieved the 911 calls made in the murder case as the suspect makes his way through court.
Emmet Metzger, 26, is facing four murder charges in the shooting that left Alexis Maki dead. Police responded to an apartment on East Hanover Street in New Baden, Illinois the night of November 4th. Maki was pronounced dead on scene.
Following the shooting, Metzger walked across the street to the New Baden Police Department to turn himself in, according to police, but after finding nobody there, a panicked Metzger called 911 and itted to the crime. Here is about 40 seconds of that more-than-six-minute call:
DISPATCHER: “911 What is the address of your emergency?”
METZGER: “I’m at the police station right now.”
DISPATCHER: “Okay, what police station?”
METZGER: “New Baden ... I messed up I did something so bad. I need to be arrested, please.”
METZGER: “I’m unarmed. I shot my girlfriend.”
DISPATCHER: “You shot your girlfriend?”
METZGER: “Yes, oh God”
DISPATCHER: “We need to get some help to your girlfriend at 121 E. Hanover.”
METZGER: “*inaudible* she’s f***ing dead!”
DISPATCHER: “How many times did you shoot her?”
METZGER: “Once!”
Maki’s family tells First Alert 4 that authorities told them Metzger shot Alexis more than once.
Metzger sat in a Clinton County courtroom Wednesday morning for a preliminary hearing after a judge granted a continuance from the previous hearing. Metzger and his public defender, Stewart Freeman, claimed the suspect needed time to find private counsel. As of Wednesday, Freeman said Metzger had no leads on an attorney to represent him. A jury trial is set to begin Jan. 26, 2024.
Wednesday marked the first time since before the shooting the family of Alexis Maki saw Metzger.
“I was not looking forward to it, and I didn’t know what to expect,” said Lisa Brock, Maki’s mother. “We want a punishment that fits the crime. I really hate to see that all of the lives have been affected, but [Metzger] had a choice, and Alexis didn’t.”
Brock says she’d like to see this end sooner rather than later.
“I did hope that he would just plead guilty, so we wouldn’t have to go through more than we already have,” Brock said. Metzger made no effort to acknowledge the family in the courtroom. “I was hoping to see his face just so he could see how affected we have been by this.”
A criminology expert says the ission of the crime over the 911 call could play to Metzger’s advantage as the case makes its way through court.
“Generally speaking, when a suspect cooperates with authorities and has been shown to cooperate, a judge could go easier on them,” said Timothy Maher, a Criminology and Criminal Justice professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. “But in this case, I doubt this was the driving motive for him immediately turning himself in. I suspect it was more the case that he was remorseful and just beside himself for killing his former girlfriend.”
“It sounds like a crime of ion,” Maher said. “People act on impulse and immediately regret it. That’s not uncommon.”
Metzger has a final pre-trial hearing set for January 3 and a jury trial set for a few weeks later on January 26.
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