The wife of an Illinois judge who was found shot to death earlier this week has now been charged in connection with his murder.
Second Judicial Circuit Court Judge Michael J. Valentine, 41, was killed on Tuesday in an apparent shooting outside a home in Albion, sitting between St. Louis, Mo. and Louisville, Ky. in southern Illinois.
Deputies with the Edwards County Sheriff’s Office responded to the home around 12:15 p.m., at which time they “observed the body of Michael Valentine laying outside the residence,” state police said in a news release Thursday.
Megan Valentine, 44, was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated domestic battery.
She’s being held at the White County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court Friday.
No additional information was released.
Valentine was in the second year of his second six-year term as a judge. He was first elected to the circuit court in 2016 after serving as a state’s attorney in Edwards County.
“Judge Valentine was a distinguished jurist who was determined in the pursuit of justice and his compassion and conduct earned him the confidence and respect of the people who appeared before him,” the office of the Chief Judge of the Illinois Second Judicial Circuit said in a statement. “He will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.”
