Kendall Co. Major Crimes Task Force Wins Award For Murder Case

OSWEGO, IL — The Kendall County Major Crimes Task Force received an award for its work on a 2015 murder that resulted in the conviction of a 23-year-old Plano man. The award was given to the task force at the 10th annual Illinois Homicide Investigators Conference, held in Itasca on Oct. 15-17.

Kendall County's major crimes unit won the "distinguished team award" for the 2015 Plano murder, when the unit assisted local's police in the homicide investigation. In that case, a 23-year-old Andrew Erickson was found in the street, bleeding from a stab wound after getting into an argument with another man. He died from his injuries.

Authorities determined it was 24-year-old David Acevedo who stabbed Erickson, and the man was arrested later that day at his Plano home. During a search of his home, officers located four firearms, three handguns and one rifle inside his bedroom. Acevedo was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

The county's major crimes unit — made up of investigators from multiple local law enforcement agencies ± was instrumental in solving the case, Plano Police Chief Jonathan Whowell said.

"We witnessed first hand in this case how much of an asset this type of team is in such a large scale incident," Whowell said in a statement. "Without the professionalism and effectiveness of the Major Crimes Task Force, this case may have not yielded the same results in court and also in the efforts of providing justice to the victim’s family."

The task force is activated for serious crimes and manpower-intensive investigations. It is made up of detectives from the Kendall County Sheriff's Office, Oswego Police Department, Montgomery Police Department, Yorkville Police Department, Plano Police Department, Plainfield Police Department, Minooka Police Department and Illinois State Police.

"Having a large number of investigators ready and available to assist for serious crime investigations, which are generally manpower and time intensive, ensures that serious crime investigations are started on the right foot, and are handled in a timely fashion," Kendall County Sheriff Dwight Baird said in a statement. "The recent award presented to the Task Force is a testament to the level of teamwork, collaboration, and dedication
embodied by this group of men and women every day."