A Lake County judge Tuesday denied bond for the Round Lake Beach man accused of killing his three young children.
After reviewing a motion from Lake County prosecutors, Judge Theodore Potkonjak said Jason E. Karels must remain in custody without the possibility of bail as he awaits trial.
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Karels, 35, was arrested last week and charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his children, Bryant, 5, Cassidy, 3, and Gideon, 2. Authorities alleged that Karels drowned his children in a bathtub at his home on June 13, in apparent anger that his wife had left him about a month before.
Karels had been held in the Lake County jail since his arrest last week in lieu of $10 million bail. His attorneys from the Lake County public defender’s office had told the court that Karels did not have the money to post the $1 million he would need to be freed on bond.
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Prosecutors last week made an oral motion to hold Karels without bail, but the judge said he believed such a motion needed to filed in writing. Prosecutors subsequently did file the motion, and the judge Tuesday agreed to deny Karels bond.
Potkonjak assigned the case to Judge James Booras, after Assistant Public Defender Molly Leimback filed a motion for a substitution of judge and asked that the case not be assigned to Judge Patricia Fix or Judge Charles Smith. Under state law, substitution requests are automatically granted if filed within 10 days of an arrest.
The case is due back in court July 13 and is scheduled for preliminary hearing, though Karels will likely be formally indicted before then. An indictment would negate the need for the preliminary hearing. He would face an automatic sentence of life in prison should he be found guilty of the murder charges.
Authorities said Karels left at note at his house, apparently meant for his estranged wife, that read, “If I can’t have them, neither can you.” Debra Karels went to the house on June 13 in an attempt to pick up the children after she had agreed to let them spend the previous night with her husband. Inside, she found the bodies of her children in a bed.
Jason Karels was taken into custody later that afternoon after leading police on a chase through the south suburbs.
A GoFundMe account to aid Debra Karels had exceeded its $100,000 goal by Tuesday afternoon. A private funeral for the Karels children is scheduled for later this week.
