Crime & Safety
Palatine Man Accused of Killing 14-Year-Old Girl in 1997 Gets Trial Date
James P. Eaton, 38, will be tried in Racine, Wis., in connection with the murder of Amber Creek.
A Wisconsin judge set the trial date Friday for the Palatine man accused in the 1997 killing of 14-year-old Palatine girl Amber Creek, the Daily Herald reports.
James P. Eaton, 38, will be tried Oct. 24 in Racine, Wis., and he faces first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse, according to the Herald. Eaton's lawyers had asked for a change of venue, claiming media coverage of the murder had been inflammatory, but the judge denied that request, the report stated.
The partially clothed body of of Amber was found in February of 1997 in a southeastern Wisconsin nature preserve. Amer had been reported missing in January from the Chicago juvenile home she had been living at.
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RELATED: Palatine Man Charged in 1997 Murder of 14-Year-Old Palatine Girl
Racine authorities arrested Eaton in 2014 in Palatine after his fingerprints matched those recovered from a plastic bag found over Amber's head, the Herald reports.
Find out what's happening in Palatinefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Eaton has been in prison awaiting trial since that arrest. His next court date is Aug. 3
PHOTO: James P. Eaton from 2014. (Racine County Sheriff's Department)
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