Massac County Grand Jury Returns Indictment – Involuntary Manslaughter – against Jonathon Riley in Death Of Samuel Stallions in Metropolis in early May

(WMOK) Metropolis, IL – Metropolis Police Chief Harry Masse joined WMOK last week for his regularly scheduled Coffee Break and we were able to speak further with him about the return of an indictment against Jonathon J Riley for Involuntary Manslaughter.

Hear our discussion with Chief Masse below:

(WMOK) Metropolis, IL – On August 18th Massac County State Attorney Josh Stratmeyer advised that a Massac County Grand Jury has returned an indictment against Jonathon J Riley for the offense of Involuntary Manslaughter in connection with the death of Samuel Scott Stalions at the Acee’s Truck Stop in Metropolis on May 2.

The indictment alleges that Riley recklessly performed an act likely to cause death or great bodily harm in that he held Stalions on the ground by placing his kneed on the neck of Stalions – thereby causing the death of Stalions.

The release advises that the Metropolis Police Department conducted a thorough investigation of the matter and the grand jury received testimony from numerous witnesses over multiple days of testimony prior to returning the indictment.

The statement points out that the charges are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

(5.26.23) Update – Directly below – WMOK’s discussion with Chief Harry Masse regarding an early May homicide at a Metropolis Truck Stop Gaming Room.  

Sheriff Kaylor told WMOK that while he was unable to discuss the case itself as it was handled by the Metropolis Police Department that he can speak on the standpoint of the “keeping of the jail”.

Sheriff Kaylor confirmed that the subject was released with no charges at the time and said he wishes to emphasize “at this time”.

Kaylor explained that in the state of Illinois a subject may only be held for 48 hours and if charges are not filed at that time they must be released.

During our follow up questions, Kaylor advised that the 48 hour hold without charges in Illinois is something that has been in effect for at least the roughly twenty years that he has worked for the Massac County Sheriff’s Office.  Kaylor confirmed that the 48 hour hold without charges is not something that is a result of the SAFE-T act.

We also asked Sheriff Kaylor during our discussion specifically if the act of the subject being released without bond and notice to appear was in any way related to the parts of the SAFE-T act which have been passed.  He advised that this is also something that has been in effect for at least the roughly twenty years that he has worked for the Massac County Sheriff’s Office.

Kaylor discusses “notice to appear” in great detail in the audio clip below.

Sheriff Kaylor did tell us during the conversation that you can hear in its entirety below that he received a great deal of feedback from the community regarding the release and wants folks to understand that because the subject was not charged on that day does not mean that he will not be charged.

Kaylor confirmed that no bond has been paid as charges have not yet bet filed.

WMOK spoke with Massac County State’s Attorney Josh Stratmeyer on Tuesday morning who advised that at this point he can only comment to say that there continues to be an ongoing investigation of this matter.  Stratmeyer said, “No individual is currently in custody while the matter is being investigated.”