Bethany McKee found guilty in Joliet double murder

JOLIET, Ill. (WLS) -- A Will County judge has found Bethany McKee guilty in the murders of two men in Joliet.

The 20-year-old faces a possible life sentence for the murders of 22-year-olds Eric Glover and Terrance Rankins. She will be sentenced in October by Judge Gerald Kinney.

Prosecutors say McKee and three friends robbed and murdered the two Joliet men in January of 2013. Two other suspects are awaiting trial and a fourth, Alissa Massaro, has pleaded guilty to robbery and concealment of a homicidal death in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence.

Kinney said Friday McKee's actions "show a stunning lack of respect for human life as well as a stunning lack of concern for the consequences of taking two human lives."

Judge Kinney said of McKee that instead of leaving or reporting the crimes, she held a lamp: "so that the bag could be placed over the victim's head."

Closing arguments were completed August 12 in the bench trial. McKee waved her rights to testify on her own behalf and to a jury trial. The proceedings have been emotional for the relatives of Rankins and Glover, who left the Will County Courthouse Tuesday following a six-day trial.

"They took the best thing that ever happened to me," said Nicole Jones, the mother of Eric Glover. "They took the best person that we had and they destroyed my family."

"Did she make mistakes? Absolutely. Did I make mistakes at 18 or 40? Absolutely. But not murder," said Bill McKee, the father of Bethany.

In closing arguments of McKee's trial, Prosecutor Dan Walsh said:

"When this defendant attached herself to a group of people bent on robbery, she is accountable under the law and guilty of first-degree murder. This was a plan the four of them had in place to rob Terrance Rankins."

McKee's defense attorney, Chuck Bretz, argued that she made poor choices after the crime, but that does not make her guilty of murder.

Bretz argued:

"The moral obligation is not sufficient to make her criminally liable."

"She was not present. No one puts her there."

"She has no specific intent for anyone to be robbed, murdered or killed."

Prosecutor John Connor had the final opportunity to argue before the judge, saying it was McKee who lured Rankins to the Joliet house last January, knowing her co-defendants planned to rob and kill him.

Connor argued:

"Her choices are what killed Terrance Rankins and Eric Glover."

The men were found in a home in Joliet with plastic bags over their heads.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.