A judge on Monday denied Marni Yang’s request for a new trial — over six years after she sought it — after being convicted of murdering the pregnant girlfriend of a former Chicago Bears player in 2007.
Marni K. Yang, 58, is serving two life sentences for the murders of Rhoni Reuter, 42, and Reuter’s unborn baby girl, Skylar, which occurred on October 4, 2007.
Reuter was the girlfriend of former Chicago Bears football player Shaun Gayle, who was on the ’85 Bears team, and she was carrying their baby.
Yang, who was caught on recording confessing to the murder to a friend, was also dating Gayle at the time of the murder.
Prosecutors said Yang fatally shot Reuter at her residence in Deerfield out of jealousy.
Reuter’s brother, Thad Reuter, said that his family cried tears of relief after the jury convicted Yang just three hours after deliberating in 2011. Yang appealed the decision but her appeal was struck down.
“For the first time since Rhoni and Skylar’s death, we could breathe,” Thad previously said.
“To us, she dictated her own future when she confessed and now, almost ten years later she wants another chance?” he said in a letter in 2021 after Yang filed a post-conviction petition in 2019 seeking a new trial.
“No. No. No. It isn’t fair. Not to my sister and her baby. Not to my mom and my late dad. Not to any of us who loved Rhoni,” Thad said.
He said that another hearing “means tearing at my mom’s soul once more. Enough is enough.”
“Our sympathies, condolences, and loyalties remain with Rhoni, her family, and her friends. I leave it to the defense attorneys to characterize their own expectations about their own motions. We will respond in court through our attorneys and with our pleadings. Our focus will be to get justice for Rhoni,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said after Yang’s post-conviction petition filing.
Yang’s attorney, Jed Stone, has said that DNA found at the scene and other evidence suggest someone else could have been the killer. He also raised questions about the confession recording.
“We know that the shooter had to be at least 5-feet-9 inches or taller, and the person who is 5-feet tall could not have fired that shot,” Stone said.
Yang’s request for a new trial came to an end on Monday when Lake County Judge Christopher Stride ruled against her in the third-stage hearing of her post-conviction petition.
The judge said Yang and Stone failed to overcome the weight of the evidence in her 2011 trial.
Stride said he did not believe Yang was wrongfully convicted and that the “wealth of evidence” has not been undermined.
“We agree with the Court’s decision. More importantly, we are relieved for the family that we are getting closer to finality in this case. Our experienced prosecutors, victim specialists, and support staff have done an excellent job on this case and working with the victim’s family. We continue to keep Rhoni and her loved ones in our thoughts,” the state’s attorney said in a statement Monday.