UPDATE: 1:45 p.m. Wednesday

DeKalb Police have arrested a suspect in the early-morning slaying of NIU student Steven Agee.

Chaz Thrailkill, 19, of Markham, Ill., was arrested at 10:42 a.m. in the 1100 block of Varsity Boulevard, Chief Bill Feithen said at an afternoon press conference. Thrailkill is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery with a firearm. The weapon has not been recovered.

Thrailkill is not an NIU student, Feithen said, adding that the shooting took place inside an apartment at 809 Edgebrook Drive. Earlier Wednesday, Feithen said the shooting happened during an argument at a party there.

DeKalb County State’s Attorney Clay Campbell said there are no other suspects or warrants for other arrests.

Thrailkill is being held at the DeKalb County Jail on $3 million bond. Campbell said he faces a possible sentence of 20 years to life in prison for the murder charge and six to 30 years in prison for each of the other charges. He is scheduled to appear in court Friday morning.

 

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Agee, 22, of Park Forest,  was a senior sociology major and worked in the Student Association office. 

Paul Palian, Director of NIU Media and Public Relations, said Agee was involved in university leadership through the 2011 LEAD NIU Summit. Agee was also a peer instructor for the UNIV 101 course offered to first-semester freshmen, Palian said. 

According to Agee’s LinkedIn profile, he was the president of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity from May 2009 to Jan. 2011. Agee was also a Northern Ambassador and a member of the Black Male Initiative, his profile states.

The shooting apparently happened during a party.

“We had a shots fired call at 2:10 a.m. and we had the first officers there in about a minute,” said DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen. “There was a large party occurring and our initial indication is that an argument occurred and a shot was fired.”

Teagan Murphy, a senior nursing major who lives in the apartment complex next door, heard the commotion.

“It woke me up,” she said. “I thought I was dreaming. I heard a lot of screaming, so I looked out my window. I heard pops, but I wasn’t sure what they were. But when I saw an ambulance I thought, ‘This is more serious than I thought.'”

DeKalb Fire Chief Bruce Harrison said the DeKalb Fire Department received a request for emergency assistance at 2:12 a.m. Wednesday. Agee was pronounced dead at Kishwaukee Community Hospital about 2:45 a.m., Harrison said. 

Feithen said Agee was shot in the chest. Agee’s father, Steven Agee Sr., told the Chicago Tribune this morning that his son was shot three times. The Tribune also reports that Agee’s parents had planned to pick up their son Wednesday morning for Thanksgiving.

In a statement Wednesday morning, NIU President John Peters extended sypathy to Agee’s family and friends, and thanked the DeKalb police and fire departments for their quick response.

“In this country, we send our children to college, and we expect them to be safe,” Peters said. “Unfortunately, in our society today, we have come to see acts of violence involving young people as an all-too-common occurrence. There is a danger that we may become desensitized and accept increasing levels of violence as a fact of life. We cannot allow this to happen. As parents, teachers, students, friends and members of our community, we must continue to make our world safe for young people to grow, thrive and reach their potential.”

An NIU alert was sent about 3:30 a.m. stating the shooter was still at large. Police described the suspect as a black male, about 20 years old, with dark complexion, between 5-feet-8 and 5-feet-11 and wearing a dark jacket.

“We were asleep when it happened,” said Kyle Morris, junior accounting major who lives in the same apartment complex. “Our mom called to ask if we were OK.”

In a 6:30 a.m. press release, Feithen said there was no immediate threat to NIU or the community, “because the situation was an isolated incident …”

Bethany Swezene, junior chemistry major who lives in the apartment complex next door, said she awoke Wednesday morning to the sight of TV news crews outisde her window, then went online to find details.

“It’s not the first time this has happened,” Swezene said. “I’m not surprised.”

NIU issued an update about 9:30 a.m., giving the police information. It also said that “President John Peters, senior administrators and counselors immediately went to Kishwaukee Community Hospital to offer support and assistance to the Agee family and friends.”

Sociology Department Chair Kirk Miller said Agee was involved in the Sociology Student Advisory Committee.

“He was increasingly being recognized as a student leader within the major,” Miller said. “He was recently involved in an internship opportunity in the internship program and had a very positive experience there. The department, faculty and staff are extremely upset by the tragic death that resulted from whatever happened at the party last night. We want to extend our sympathy to Steve’s family and we want to do whatever we can to ensure that students that knew Steve are OK. … We are all sort of stunned by this turn of events and the tragic loss.”

“He was a great man,” SA Senate Speaker Austin Quick said Wednesday morning. “It’s just a very sad time and we want to keep Agee’s family in our prayers.”

Anyone with more information in this case is encouraged to call DeKalb Police at 815-748-8400 or Crimestoppers at 815-895-3272.

Chelsey Boutan, Felix Sarver and Matt Liparota contributed to this report.