Ray Tate, the 42-year-old man convicted of murdering Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Riley last year, pleaded not guilty in Clinton County Court, on Monday, to 30 felony charges stemming from events following the crime spree that started after Deputy Riley was shot to death on Interstate 64. Tate is currently serving a life sentence in Menard Correctional Center for Deputy Riley’s first-degree murder but is attempting to withdraw his guilty plea in the Wayne County case and to have his life sentence tossed out. Prosecutors claim that after shooting Deputy Riley and stealing his squad car, Tate forced a truck driver to take him to Missouri where he allegedly shot another person and stole their vehicle. Missouri prosecutors have filed 14 felony charges against Tate and have expressed a strong desire to bring him to trial. Tate then crossed back into Illinois where he reportedly carjacked another person taking the driver and his car to Clinton County, where he allegedly forced his way into a rural Carlyle home, holding both the car driver and the homeowner captive during a police standoff. The two men were ultimately released unharmed. But Clinton County authorities have charged Tate with 13 Class X felonies for aggravated kidnapping and also home invasion, four Class 1 felonies for residential burglary and possessing stolen firearms, Class 2 felonies for being a felon in possession of a firearm with a prior conviction, Class 3 felonies for aggravated battery, and aggravated unlawful restraint, and three Class 4 felonies for reckless discharge of a firearm. Tate is prohibited from having any contact with his alleged kidnapping victims Leonard Cox or Joseph Reagan. The defense noted in court Monday they expect Tate to be transferred soon to St. Charles, Missouri from Menard to be arraigned on the charges he faces there. A video hearing in the Clinton County case is scheduled for September 28 and a status hearing on the Wayne County case is set for September 15.
