A Vermilion County Circuit Court Judge has sentenced a Georgetown man to 45-years in prison for the brutal stabbing death of a man two years ago. Judge Nancy Fahey said Gregory Johnson will be required to serve 100-percent of the 45 year sentence. The sentence was given after Johnson pleaded guilty to a single count of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of 21-year-old Timothy Ellis.
Johnson interrupted the court proceedings at one point to say he disagreed with Vermilion County State’s Attorney Jacqueline Lacy’s comment saying Ellis had been stabbed nearly 30 times. But Johnson then agreed the victim was stabbed multiple times.
The victim’s body was found buried under some items in a shed in Georgetown after he had been reported missing two days earlier.
The victim’s wife, Melissa Ellis, told Judge Fahey that Johnson killed her husband over something petty. ‘’He would do anything to help someone and that’s what he was doing the night he was killed,’’ said Mrs. Ellis. She added her husband was the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.
Angel Ziegler, the victim’s mother-in-law, added that Tim Ellis ‘’was a true friend to anyone who knew him.’’
State’s Attorney Lacy said Georgetown Police did an excellent job handling the case, with assistance from Illinois State Police and the Illinois State Police Crime Lab and Vermilion County Sheriff’s Department. Lacy also said she is pleased with the 45 year sentence.
Lacy added that if the case would have gone to trial evidence would have been presented that the defendant went to the victim’s home and asked if Ellis could help the defendant move a couch. Ellis agreed to help, according to the State’s Attorney, and a short while later the defendant started making some false accusations against Timothy Ellis. After they arrived at 201 West Fifth Street in Georgetown, Lacy said evidence would have been presented at the trial that they went to a shed and that is where the defendant began to repeatedly stab Ellis.
