Hyche Paroled

(TROOPER LAYTON DAVIS)

The Illinois Prisoner Review Board has granted parole for Aaron Hyche, the man convicted of murder in the shooting death of Illinois State Trooper Layton Davis.

Hyche and Aaron Taylor were convicted of Trooper Davis' murder after an incident at the Green Creek Rest Area along southbound I-57 in 1976. Davis stopped a car carrying the two men who had fled from Chicago after a criminal incident there. Davis had stopped them for speeding and with the technology available at the time was not aware of the Chicago incident. The pair didn't know that and jumped the trooper and shot him. Hyche and Taylor fled to Effingham where they stole a vehicle and abducted the driver. They were later apprehended in the Olney area.

Taylor was paroled last year, in part due to his physical condition. The hearing was originally scheduled for March, but Alan Davis, one of Layton Davis' sons, said the hearing was apparently moved up to this week. Our initial information is that the Davis family was not notified of the change in date, nor was the office of Effingham County State's Attorney Bryan Kibler, who has assisted the family in opposing Hyche's release through the years.

We also heard via Facebook from Anna Mae Willenborg, then Anna Mae Feldhake, the woman who was abducted in Effingham by Hyche and Taylor, about the action by the Prisoner Review Board. Willenborg voiced her strong displeasure over the release and how it was handled.

Reportedly, a new law that took effect January 1st of this year gave prisoners the option of seeking a medical release, and that is what Hyche utilized in gaining his release.

The Illinois Prisoner Review Board has been under scrutiny throughout the term of Governor J.B. Pritzker, as Pritzker has appointed individuals to the Board without the appointees having to go through Senate confirmation.