Joliet Murder Defendant Christopher Beale Doesn't Need Lawyer

JOLIET, IL — It's been almost three entire years since Christopher Lee Beale was charged with first-degree murder in connection with Joliet's Oct. 1, 2018, fatal stabbing of 28-year-old Marcedes "Marci" Flakes, the mother of his children.

Now, Beale has determined the person who can provide the best criminal defense for his case isn't a lawyer, it's him. In recent days, the Will County Public's Defender's Office has been removed from handling Beale's criminal defense, a review of court documents show. Beale did not want the public defenders representing him anymore.

Starting now, the 32-year-old Joliet man intends to be his own counsel when his case goes to trial at some point in the future.

"It is hereby ordered that pursuant to the filing of appearance of private counsel, the Office of the Will County Public Defender is given leave to withdraw,"a Will County judge ruled.

In June, Beale filed a motion with the court demanding pro se, which means he would serve as his own attorney.

Beale remains in the Will County Jail unable to post his $2 million bail. The murder defendant resided in the 1300 block of Arthur Street back in 2018.

Shortly before 7 a.m., Oct. 1, 2018, Flakes ran outside her apartment at Fairview'w public housing projects and collapsed in the street, in the 1500 block of Fairmont Avenue. She died from being stabbed in the back, the killer's knife pierced her heart.

At the time of the killing, Joliet police issued a statement revealing that Beale was the killer.

"Multiple witnesses identified Beale as the person last seen with the victim. Detectives, through their investigation, were able to also identify Beale as the person responsible for the victim's death," Joliet Police officials said at the time. "Detectives were able to determine Beale had fled Joliet and was heading to Chicago."

The victim and Beale had three children together, the victim's relatives have told Joliet Patch.

In 2018, Patch reported that the stabbing was witnessed by the couple's oldest child as several of the victim's children were home getting ready for school when the crime happened. They said that Flakes had lived at the Fairview public housing unit for about a year. They said Beale was not staying there, and that he had pulled up his car and went inside the apartment that Monday morning, yelling at her and then using a knife to stab her as she tried to get away from him.

The knife wound punctured one of the arteries in her heart, a Will County prosecutor revealed at Beale's bail hearing.

"He took her life. She was trying to get away from him," one of the relatives said outside the courtroom. "Marci was a good person. He took her away from her babies."

No trial date for Beale has been set even though the slaying happened three years ago.

Beale has a discovery hearing on Aug. 26 in Courtroom 402 of Will County Circuit Judge Daniel Rippy.