Within the Cook County legal system, 2024 in many ways marked a shift in approach that will be noticeable in local courtrooms. After eight polarizing years, former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx stepped down. Her successor, Eileen O’Neill Burke, a former appellate judge, took office with a different mandate. O’Neill Burke, who narrowly defeated her Democratic primary opponent, Clayton Harris III, and then Republican Bob Fioretti by a wider margin, came into office in December decrying the consistent scourge of gun violence and announcing a new pretrial detention policy. It marked a change in tone from Foxx, who was elected in 2016 amid calls for reform after the slaying of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke. O’Neill Burke has begun fleshing out her leadership team, naming former Circuit Court judge and prosecuting veteran Anna Demacopoulos as the first assistant state’s attorney. Demacopoulos most recently served on the bench at the Daley Center after being elected in 2008 and previously worked for the state’s attorney’s office for 23 years, including as a supervisor for the Narcotics Felony Trial Unit. The new state’s attorney appointed as chief of staff Garvin Ambrose, who worked in the administrations of both Foxx and her predecessor Anita Alvarez. Ambrose, who previously was an assistant state’s attorney, was chief of staff for Alvarez from 2014 to 2016 and headed the bureau of Administrative Services for Foxx. O’Neill Burke also named Yvette Loizon, a former partner at Clifford Law Offices, as chief of policy; Jennifer Bagby, a former prosecutor who most recently was an attorney with the city, as chief deputy, and Matt McGrath, who comes from the city’s Treasurer’s Office, as director of external affairs. During Foxx’s final year in office, she touted a history-making hundreds of wrongful convictions vacated, even in the midst of controversy that surrounded her Conviction Review Unit, which was responsible for investigating claims of innocence. In 2024, judges, lawyers and other stakeholders also worked through the first full year of the state’s landmark bail reform legislation. The Pretrial Fairness Act, which took effect in September 2023, abolished cash bail in favor of a system in which judges evaluate risk and decide whether defendants are held in jail or released with conditions. Officials worked out kinks in the law — such as when appeals skyrocketed — and researchers noted, though much remains to be studied, that the state saw no increase in violent crime or property crime in the months after the law’s passage. “We were given this big open highway called the PFA,” Cook County Judge Mary Marubio, presiding judge of the pretrial division, told the Tribune in 2024. “Slowly, we’re all finding where the lanes are and where the guardrails are.” The bond office at Division 5 of the Cook County Department of Corrections on Sept. 18, 2023. The Pretrial Fairness Act eliminated cash bail in Illinois. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune) With a new year ahead, and a new state’s attorney at the helm of the country’s second-largest prosecutors office, 2025 appears poised for more change, even as systemic issues such as gun violence, inequities in the system and the legacy of police torture continue to reverberate through new and old cases. Here are some cases and issues to watch in 2025: Domestic violence  In an act of stunning violence, Crosetti Brand attacked a pregnant former girlfriend, then fatally stabbed her 11-year-old son, Jayden Perkins, when he tried to help his mother, prosecutors alleged in March. Brand, who has a long history of violence against Jayden’s mother and other women, allegedly committed the attack just one day after being released from prison. The case, among others throughout the past year, put a spotlight on the handling of domestic violence cases in Cook County and the often imperfect methods employed to protect survivors. Before the attack, Brand was released from prison after serving a sentence in an attack on a different woman. He was warned not to contact Jayden’s mother, according to records. She also had sought an emergency order of protection, which was denied. Jayden’s mother, though, reported to authorities that Brand tried to break into her home, and he was sent back to prison. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board then allowed his release March 12, finding there was not a preponderance of evidence supporting a violation. A memorial for Jayden Perkins, a 11-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in his home on March 13, on March 15, 2024, outside Perkins’ home in Chicago. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune) On March 13, prosecutors say, Brand returned to the apartment and killed Jayden. Two members of the Prisoner Review Board resigned in the wake of the attack. Months later, another case drew attention to faults in the system, when police said Constantin Beldie, 57, killed his estranged wife weeks after a judge ordered him released on electronic monitoring. Advocates against domestic violence called for the reassignment of the judge, Thomas Nowinski, who also denied a request by Jayden’s mother for an emergency order of protection against Brand. Brand’s case remains pending before Judge Angela Petrone. He is representing himself. Wrongful convictions Over the course of a rare trial this past year, two former Cook County assistant state’s attorneys stood accused of wrongdoing in connection with an infamous wrongful-conviction case. Nicholas Trutenko, a former prosecutor, and Andrew Horvat, a former assistant state’s attorney with the office’s Civil Actions Bureau, were charged by special prosecutors after a lengthy investigation into their conduct during the third and final trial for Jackie Wilson, whose case was critical to unveiling allegations of torture within the Chicago Police Department. Defendants and former Cook County assistant state’s attorneys Nicholas Trutenko, left, and Andrew Horvat listen to closing statements in their misconduct trial at the courthouse in Rolling Meadows on Dec. 4, 2024. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/pool) The trial shed light on a tumultuous period for the state’s attorney’s office and spurred Foxx to revamp policies around ethics training and conflicts of interest. Special prosecutors who were trying Wilson dropped all charges, and Wilson was eventually issued a certificate of innocence. The defendants elected a bench trial, and Lake County Judge Daniel Shanes is set to issue a ruling in the new year. Shanes was assigned to the case because the Cook County judiciary was recused from hearing the matter. Prosecutors had accused Trutenko of hiding a longtime friendship with a key witness against Wilson, then lying on the stand to cover up his concealment. They further alleged that Horvat, who represented Trutenko because he was called as a witness during Wilson’s third trial, further aided the concealment of the relationship, which prosecutors said deprived Wilson of the right to confront an accuser. Their defense attorneys argued for their innocence, accusing the special prosecutors of acting in bad faith. Though it was unusual for former prosecutors to stand trial, Trutenko and Horvat were among a number of state actors to be accused of misconduct amid a broader reckoning about police shootings and the justice system’s role in wrongful convictions. Throughout her tenure, Foxx’s office charged police officers with allegations of wrongdoing in the line of duty, such as alleged beatings or unjustified shootings, but the office struggled to win cases, which often ended in acquittals or dropped charges. Most recently, under O’Neill Burke, the office dropped charges against an Oak Lawn police officer who was accused of beating a Bridgeview teen in a decision that was harshly criticized by the Arab American Action Network. Police slayings  Last year, jurors watched, via body camera footage, the tragic killing of Chicago police Officer Ella French and its aftermath before finding Emonte Morgan guilty of murdering French and seriously injuring her partner, Carlos Yanez Jr. Coming up in 2025, at least seven defendants face pending charges in the slayings of four police officers in incidents deemed on-duty. Mourners write notes of condolence next to a portrait of Oak Park police Detective Allan Reddins before a vigil in his memory at the Oak Park Village Hall on Dec. 6, 2024. Reddins was fatally shot while responding to a bank robbery call on Nov. 29. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)An ofrenda in memory of Chicago police Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso is created during the Día de los Muertos Xicágo event outside the National Museum of Mexican Art on Oct. 28, 2023. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)Fifth District police officers speak at the funeral of Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston on May 17, 2023, at Trinity United Church of Christ. Preston was still in uniform when she parked her car after finishing a shift and walked toward her home when three people jumped out of a sedan and fatally shot her. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/pool)Images of Chicago police officer Enrique Martínez are shown on the big video board as a moment of silence is held for the fallen officer before the start of a game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings at the United Center on Nov. 6, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)Show Caption1 of 4Mourners write notes of condolence next to a portrait of Oak Park police Detective Allan Reddins before a vigil in his memory at the Oak Park Village Hall on Dec. 6, 2024. Reddins was fatally shot while responding to a bank robbery call on Nov. 29. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)Expand Steven Montano is accused of killing Chicago police Officer Andrés Vásquez Lasso, who was shot while responding to a domestic-related call on March 1, 2023. Four people are charged with murder for allegedly gunning down Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston shortly after she got off her shift on May 6, 2023. Darion McMillian is accused of killing Chicago police Officer Enrique Martínez, who was shot and killed during a traffic stop Nov. 4. Jerell Thomas is charged with murder in the shooting death of Oak Park Detective Allan Reddins on Nov. 29. Line-of-duty killings sometimes underscore the relationship between the police and the prosecutor’s office — Foxx has previously said that critics who pointed out tensions between her office and the Chicago Police Department often overlook convictions her office won in slayings such as those of French and Cmdr. Paul Bauer. But Foxx noted that such tensions are sometimes inherent in the job. “It is not easy to tell a partner who’s worked really hard on a case that it’s not sufficient, but the reality is, that’s our oath,” Foxx told the Tribune in November. Still, when campaigning, O’Neill Burke discussed with voters a need for the office to reset its relationship with the police. Electronic monitoring Among those defendants charged in police killings is one who was held on electronic monitoring in Will County for a pending drug case before he was accused of killing Martínez in November. Apparent family members of slain Chicago police Officer Enrique Martínez are escorted out on Nov. 7, 2024, at the Leighton Criminal Court Building after a hearing where Darion C. McMillian was charged with his murder. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) Martínez was on duty when his and his partner’s attention was drawn to a double-parked Ford Escape. Darion McMillian, who was in the passenger seat, grabbed a weapon, fired and hit Martínez, prosecutors allege. Afterward, prosecutors allege, McMillian ran into a nearby residence and tried to cut off his ankle bracelet. High-profile cases involving defendants on electronic monitoring over the years have triggered debates about the technology and the county’s programs, which are poised for an overhaul in the new year. The county for years has run separate but parallel GPS monitoring programs operated by the court system and the sheriff’s office, a setup that critics have long contended is inefficient. The Cook County Board of Commissioners has allocated moving some funds from the sheriff’s program to the programs run under the court system, with the goal of eventually having a unified program under the chief judge’s office. “It’s a historical artifact, just that the two programs were created at different times essentially,” Sarah Staudt, an attorney who consults with the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, told the Tribune in December. “It’s fundamentally inefficient.”