Dante Salinas: Murder Indictment, Firing, and Settlements

Dante Salinas is a former Waukegan, Illinois, police officer who fatally shot 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette and wounded Stinnette’s girlfriend, Tafara Williams, during a traffic stop on October 20, 2020. He was fired days later, indicted in 2022 on second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges in Stinnette’s death, and, in a separate case, convicted in 2025 of felony official misconduct for punching a man at a baptism party in 2019. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail in the misconduct case. The murder charges remain pending.

The Fatal Shooting of Marcellis Stinnette

On the night of October 20, 2020, Waukegan officer James Keating pulled over a vehicle at Liberty and Oak streets, claiming passenger Marcellis Stinnette had an outstanding warrant. Williams was driving. After an exchange with Keating, she drove away.¹

Salinas, a five-year veteran of the department, found the car shortly afterward and initiated a second stop. Dashboard video showed the vehicle sliding off the road at Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and South Avenue. Prosecutors say Salinas exited his squad car and fired 12 seconds later as the car reversed. He claimed the car was backing toward him and he feared being run over. Illinois State Police investigators and an independent crime scene analyst concluded he was “well clear of the car’s path” when he opened fire.¹

Stinnette was killed. Williams was seriously wounded but survived. Neither was armed, and Stinnette had committed no crime that night.² Salinas did not activate his body camera until after the shooting.³ Williams later told the court that after the shooting, officers “laid Marcellis on the ground and covered him with a blanket while he was still breathing” despite her pleas to take him to a hospital.⁴

Firing and Investigation

Three days after the shooting, the Waukegan Police Department fired Salinas, citing multiple policy and procedure violations, most notably his failure to activate his body-worn camera. Police Chief Wayne Walles asked the Illinois State Police to conduct an independent investigation. A second officer involved in the initial approach of the vehicle was placed on administrative duty.⁵

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart, who took office after the shooting, oversaw the prosecution. The state police investigation was largely complete by February 2021, and an outside trajectory expert, brought in because body camera footage was unavailable, delivered a final report in July 2022.⁶ Rinehart said the two-year gap before charges was necessary “to get it right” without the footage.⁷

The Murder Indictment

On September 21, 2022, a Lake County grand jury indicted Salinas on three counts of second-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter in Stinnette’s death. Bond was set at $350,000. Salinas pleaded not guilty.⁸ Rinehart called the shots “illegal, unnecessary,” and below department standards, noting that Stinnette was a passenger who had committed no crime and that neither occupant of the car was armed.¹

A trial date has not been set. If convicted of second-degree murder, Salinas faces up to 20 years in prison.⁴

The 2019 Baptism Party Beating

The same 2022 indictment included separate charges from an earlier incident. On August 31, 2019, Salinas was on patrol when he stopped to speak with Angel Salgado, who was standing in his in-laws’ yard after a baptism celebration. Prosecutors said Salgado was not hurting anyone, was not breaking the law, and no complaint had been filed against him.⁷ A verbal argument turned physical. When Salinas tried to arrest him, Salgado retreated into the fenced yard. Salinas followed, drew his gun, switched to a Taser, deployed it, and then punched Salgado in the face multiple times, breaking his eye socket and nose.⁸

An internal Waukegan Police Department review at the time concluded the force was “within department policy,” and Salinas received no discipline.¹

A bench trial before Lake County Judge George Strickland was held in September 2025. Strickland found Salinas, then 42, guilty of one felony count of official misconduct and of battery, and not guilty of aggravated battery. The judge ruled that while Salgado had resisted arrest, Salinas’s use of force was “unreasonable,” adding: “I can’t remember a time I saw an officer resort to striking a suspect this quickly. This should not have occurred.”⁹

On October 28, 2025, Strickland sentenced Salinas to 60 days in jail, 24 months of felony probation, and 100 hours of community service, along with court costs and a no-contact order covering Salgado’s family. The judge said Salinas had betrayed the public trust, acted out of anger, and shown no restraint, and that the sentence should deter similar conduct by other officers.¹⁰

Civil Settlements

In July 2022, the Waukegan City Council unanimously approved a $300,000 settlement resolving Salgado’s federal civil rights lawsuit against Salinas and the city. The settlement included no admission of wrongdoing.⁸

Stinnette’s family and Williams filed separate civil suits against Salinas and the city on October 29, 2020, alleging excessive force and improper training. Williams’s complaint also named Officer Keating and alleged the department maintained a “blue code of silence.”¹¹ Both cases have since been settled out of court, according to reports; the terms have not been publicly disclosed.²

1
CBS News Chicago. Former Waukegan Police Officer Dante Salinas Charged With Second-Degree Murder
2
ABC 7 Chicago. Former Waukegan Police Officer Dante Salinas Convicted of Misconduct
3
CBS News Chicago. Former Waukegan Police Officer Dante Salinas Guilty of Official Misconduct
4
Fox 32 Chicago. Trial of Illinois Officer in Marcellis Stinnette Shooting
5
ABC News. Body Camera Not Turned On in Fatal Shooting of Unarmed Black Couple
6
Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office. State’s Attorney Announces Charges Against Former Waukegan Officer
7
ABC 7 Chicago. Waukegan Police Shooting: Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart
8
NBC Chicago. City of Waukegan Settled With Man Beaten by Officer for $300K
9
ABC 7 Chicago. Former Waukegan Police Officer Dante Salinas Sentenced to 60 Days in Jail
10
Lake McHenry Scanner. Former Waukegan Police Officer Sentenced to Jail for Punching Man
11
ABC 7 Chicago. Waukegan Police Shooting Video and Lawsuit