Authorities in Tazewell County have arrested and charged a suspect with murder in the death of a 13-year-old Pekin boy who was reported missing in 2016.
Pekin Police Chief Seth Ranney announced Wednesday his department arrested Keith Brackett, 48, in connection with the death of Robert Bee Jr. Ranney was flanked by Tazewell County officials and representatives of the Illinois State Police and FBI during an afternoon news conference at Pekin City Hall.
“Speaking in generalities, our job as law enforcement is to make sure that our community feels safe, and especially our children,” said Ranney. “Anytime that we have a crime against a child, it’s going to be something that is the highest priorities for us.
“This case and every other case that comes before our department is vital in our stance. It’s one of those where, sure, we’re happy that we have an outcome today. But it’s one of those things where this is a process, and this is another step in the process and it’s going to move to the next phase.”
According to a probable cause affidavit, Brackett and Bee were friends despite their age difference, and the teen occasionally would spend time at Brackett's house.
Skeletal remains found in July 2017 in a secluded wooden area behind a Tazewell County residence were later identified as Bee, and strangulation was identified as the likely cause of death.
Tazewell County State’s Attorney Kevin Johnson said Brackett was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of concealment of a homicide. Johnson said Brackett’s initial court appearance would likely happen Thursday, and his office intends to file a petition for pretrial detention.
Johnson told WCBU “it would be fair to say” Bracket had been the primary suspect for quite some time, and there was no specific reasoning behind the timing of the arrest.
“What happened was that we had reached the end of the investigation. There was no more leads for us to track down where we thought we could find credible, admissible and relevant evidence,” he said. “We’d reached the end, there was nothing more we could do. We made that decision, and therefore it was time to do the final review and to make the charging decision.”
During the news conference, Johnson and Ranney both said they were limited in what additional information they could provide.
“I’m well aware of the interest and the heightened emotions that this case has brought about. The death of a child, the murder of a child is obviously going to be something that our community, our county, our citizens, take great interest in,” said Johnson. “I’m well aware of it, and I understand it.
“But I’ll ask our community to understand that we are limited in the information that we can provide to you at this time. It’s important to our judicial system that these cases be tried within a court of law — not a court of public opinion or social media or even traditional media, but in the court — and all relevant information will be brought out at that time.”
Ranney identified Brackett only as a former Pekin resident, and did not provide details of the arrest. When pressed about his current residency, Johnson said “Tazewell County Jail.” The probable cause affidavit indicates Brackett spent some time in Maine during the past decade.
Ranney gave credit to his department’s officers and detectives, as well as the investigators from other agencies, for their hard work in resolving the case.
“They showed great tenacity through the last decade to make sure that no stone was unturned, and that every investigative technique that we had available to us at the time and since then was investigated,” said Ranney.
“That has ultimately led to today’s conclusion, and I know that I speak on behalf of the department when I can say that this case in particular was the most manpower-intensive case that we’ve ever had in the history of the department.”
