CHESTER, IL (WSIL) - For the people gathering Monday morning at the Randolph County Courthouse, their protest was about one thing, and that’s justice.
“The Support has kept us going,� said Carrie Flynn, mother of Diane Gonzalez.
About 30 people gathered outside the courthouse to protest what they believe is the injustice toward the death of 26-year-old Dakota Morrison and 31-year-old Gonzalez.
"The days have been so hard that we just want to give up,� confessed Flynn. “We just felt like we weren't getting anywhere, and then you get the support and the people everywhere, the people that have come out and supported us has meant everything to us."
Back in April 2022, then-34-year-old Nicholas Cook of Du Quoin is alleged to have crossed the center line and hit the motorcycle Morrison and Gonzalez was on while at a stop sign at the intersection of James and Broadway Street in Steeleville.
"Nothing's been done, and this is it,� said Dakota’s mom Helena Knope. “They're not planning on doing anything else, and it's not right� it's not."
Cook was supposed to appear in front of a Randolph County judge on Monday for the traffic violation of improper traffic lane use.
"We're out here to call to action,� said Flynn. “We're not satisfied with that decision."
Knope was hoping to get a glimpse of the man police officials say was responsible for the death of her son and his girlfriend.
"We were wanting to face him,� said Knope. “I want to see him."
But that didn't happen because Cook didn't appear in court, so the Judge entered an ex-parte guilty judgment against him and hit him with the maximum fine of $1,000 allowed by law. But to Dakota and Diane's friends and family that's not enough and they want answers.
"We have been fighting with the state's attorney's office for 18 months to bring charges of reckless homicide," said Flynn.
And when the families say when they try to get answers from the State's Attorney's office, they say they get silence.
"Communication with Mr. Kelley has been non-existent," said Flynn.
So if Knope had the chance to talk with the state's attorney, she would want to know�
"If things would have been different, had it been his kids,� Knope wonders.
For now, those who loved and cared for both Dakota and Diane will continue to fight for what they believe in.
“I'm not one to give up, and I'm sure you guys aren't either,� said a family friend of Dakota and Diane, Jason Leeper. “So until we get the justice we're looking for. We're not going to stop.�
