On Friday, December 15, 2023, Jason E. Karels, 36, from Round Lake Beach, Illinois, entered a guilty plea for the first-degree murder of his three children, aged five, three, and two.
The plea, registered as guilty but mentally ill, came about as a result of the children being found drowned in a bathtub on June 13, 2022.
The dire situation came to light when the children’s mother, Debra Karels, unable to reach them for a scheduled doctor’s appointment, requested a welfare check at their father’s residence.
Upon arrival at the location, law enforcement officers found the unresponsive bodies of three children: Bryant Karels, aged five, Cassidy Karels, aged three, and Gideon Karels, aged two, inside the residence at 200 East Camden Lane, in a suburban area of Chicago. A note addressed to Debra, found at the scene, read, “If I can’t have them neither can you,” a chilling message that pointed to the motive behind the crimes.
The suspect, who was estranged from his wife and shared custody of the children, had fled the scene, leading to a high-speed pursuit by law enforcement.
The chase spanned several highways, drawing in multiple police departments, and lasted around 17 minutes before he crashed his vehicle in a wooded area off Interstate 80.
Upon being extracted from the vehicle, Karels made several incriminating statements, confirming his responsibility for the children’s deaths. These statements, captured on body cameras worn by the officers, also revealed his attempts at suicide following the crime.
The suspect’s plea of guilty but mentally ill is significant in the Illinois legal system. It operates similarly to a conventional guilty plea but ensures that defendants have better access to mental health treatment while in custody.
Given the seriousness of his crimes, Karels is set to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, with a sentencing hearing scheduled for February 16, 2024.
