An Elgin woman charged in a fatal shootout in a Schaumburg hotel cried throughout her bond hearing this morning, then fainted as a judge set bail at $3 million.
Kristian Branch, 28, walked into court with a limp, her right foot wrapped in a large bandage because she was wounded in the foot, according to prosecutors. In tears during most of the hearing, Branch fainted and fell to the ground after Judge Joseph Urso set her bail at $3 million.
From the courtroom gallery, her mother Theresa De La Rosa cried out, "Oh, my god, my baby".
As she and several family members were ordered out of the courtroom, Branch appeared to hyperventilate on the floor as a female court officer tried to calm her down.
Earlier, Asst. State's Atty. Maria McCarthy described what happened in the room of the Homestead Suites Hotel on East State Parkway early Tuesday.
Branch and a Rockford man, Mario C. Charles, went to the room intending to rob a woman, McCarthy said. Pointing a gun at the woman, Charles ordered everyone to the floor, told them to remove their clothes and demanded their money.
Another man took out a gun and started shooting, hitting Charles in the chest and abdomen, McCarthy said. Charles fired back, hitting the man in the chest.
Charles and Branch fled, but Charles collapsed outside the hotel. He died later Tuesday at a hospital. The other man remains in critical condition at Advocate Lutheran General, McCarthy said.
Branch is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery.
Branch's public defender, Sal Spaccaferro, disputed McCarthy's account. "There was no robbery here, your honor," he said. "We feel the facts will be much different than the state's evidence".
After the hearing, Branch's mother said: "I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe she lost her boyfriend and is charged with his murder". She said the couple had been together about two years.
McCarthy outlined a lengthy arrest record for Branch. Just last week, she spent two days in Cook County Jail after being picked up in Schaumburg during a prostitution sting.
McCarthy said Branch was arrested for battery, aggravated assault and resisting arrest in Winnebago County last year; received a three-year sentence for a Kane County robbery conviction in 2006; and received probation in a 2004 felony retail theft charge and, separately, for aggravated battery to a police officer in Kane County in 2004.
Branch appeared in court this morning in jeans and a striped pullover.
-- George Houde, Georgia Garvey and Pat Curry, WGN-TV
Chicago Tribune
