Charges dropped against Ill. man in girls' deaths

[August 05, 2010]  WAUKEGAN (AP) -- Prosecutors in northern Illinois have dropped first-degree murder charges against a Zion man who's been jailed since 2005 in the stabbing deaths of two young girls.

The move came during a hearing Wednesday after DNA evidence found on one of the girls was linked to someone other than 39-year-old Jerry Hobbs.

Hobbs had pleaded not guilty in the stabbing deaths of his 8-year-old daughter, Laura, and her friend, 9-year-old Krystal Tobias.

Prosecutors in Lake County last month announced that DNA from the crime scene matches another man. That man used to live in Zion but is now in custody in Virginia after being charged in two attacks on women there.

It isn't yet clear when Hobbs will be released.

[Associated Press]

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