Why Not Manslaughter? Many Want to Know Why Hayley Pelock's Boyfriend Doesn't Face Stiffer Charges

In the week since 19-year-old Hayley Pelock died, many of our readers have asked questions regarding the specific circumstances of what the Cook County State's Attorney's office and Chicago Heights Police determined to be an accidental shooting death.

Ryan Fantasia, 20, of the first block of West 26th Street was arrested and charged with two counts of obstruction of justice after he accidentally shot Pelock while assembling a recently purchased handgun, according to police.

Several readers have asked why there wasn't an involuntary manslaughter charge against Fantasia. Sgt. Tom Rogers of the Chicago Heights Police Department said the charges are based on the evidence.

“We reviewed the case with the State's Attorney’s office,” Rogers explained. “It does come down to the law and what the law interprets that you can charge him with. Everything we found said it was accidental. If there was something else to charge him with, other than obstructing, I’m sure the State's Attorney would have.”

The State's Attorney's office said it could not comment in detail about the case, simply stating, "The charges were what they were based on the evidence."

According to Chicago Heights attorney and City Corporate Counsel Thomas J. Somer, the decision to charge someone with something as serious as manslaughter or murder is not black and white.

"It could be [manslaughter], but it depends on the facts surrounding the discharge of the weapon,” Somer said. "Whenever the police department gets a serious crime like this, the State's Attorney’s office sends a unit called the felony review unit. The final decision is always determined by that unit. These guys come out to the scene, interview the witnesses and file charges based on the information."

The Legal Defenders, a Chicago law firm that specializes in criminal defense, has the State of Illinois legal definition of involuntary manslaughter posted on its Website:

Under Illinois Law, 720 ILCS 5/9-3(a), a person commits the Illinois Felony Crime of Involuntary Manslaughter when they unintentionally kill an individual without lawful justification if their acts, whether lawful or unlawful, which caused the death, are likely to cause death or great bodily harm to some individual, and they perform them recklessly.

In the context of this definition of the law, the State's Attorney's felony review unit would have had to have reason to believe Fantasia's actions were likely to cause harm and that he had acted recklessly.

Somer said, while he only knows the information that has appeared in the news, the case really seems to boil down to "young stupidity."

“It’s totally fact-oriented,” Somer said. “This is sort of a classic case where you had a kid panic when the truth would have sufficed. They try to recreate the crime scene, hide the weapon and come up with a different version of what happened, and that panic almost got [Fantasia] charged with a murder.”

Readers have also asked if, at 20 years old, Fantasia was legally allowed to own a handgun. According to Illinois State Police, individuals under the age of 21 can obtain a Firearm Owner's Identification card with consent from their parents:

In addition to all other requirements, a person who is under 21 years of age must have the written consent of his or her parent or legal guardian to possess and acquire firearms and firearm ammunition. Also, he or she must not have been convicted of a misdemeanor other than a traffic offense or adjudged delinquent. The parent or legal guardian providing written consent must be eligible to possess a valid FOID card.

The specific circumstances surrounding Hayley Pelock's death are known to a select few, and further details on what happened in Ryan Fantasia's upstairs bedroom may emerge at a later time. Fantasia is expected to appear at the Markham courthouse April 4.

“You’ve got a million people playing the layman lawyer," Somer said. "But we don’t know all of the details."