A Macomb man was sentenced to 50 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the beating death of his cellmate in the McDonough County Jail nearly two years ago.
In August, during a re-trial after the initial trial in June was declared a mistrial, Timothy Smith, 42, of Macomb, was found guilty (but mentally ill) of first-degree murder for the Nov. 8, 2023 beating death of his McDonough County Jail cellmate Darrell Hocker, 50.
'Due to the extraordinary level of depravity and disregard for human life, I agree with the prosecution's recommendation of 50 years,' Judge Nigel Graham told the court during the Oct. 16 sentencing hearing. 'Mr. Smith waited until the guards had completed rounds, turned off the lights and the television … he waited until darkness fell before beating Mr. Hocker to death. This shows planned and organized thought, it shows foresight in planning.'
Smith faced 20 to 60 years in prison, with 100 percent time to be served and a mandatory three years supervision. State Attorney Matt Kwacala, in his opening remarks, stated that even though Smith had no prior convictions, the unprovoked attack was intentional.
'This is the most brutal attack I've seen in my 25 years as an attorney. It didn't just happen. It wasn't a coincidence,' Kwacala continued. 'He murdered Darrell Hocker 20 minutes after lights out. It was a mega violent attack. He knew what he was doing.'
Smith chose not to any of the court proceedings, and was tried – and sentenced – in absentia. His attorney Scott McClintock of Monmouth implored court in his opening remarks Thursday to consider that Smith had no prior history of delinquency and that he had led law-abiding life until recently when his mental health began to deteriorate.
'I ask the court to take the testimony of his sister and the psychiatrist, as well as the pre-sentencing report regarding the full extent of his mental health into consideration,' McClintock said. 'We ask for the minimum of 20 years.'
Written victim impact statements were entered into the record; no in-person statements were provided at the Oct. 16 sentencing. Following the hearing, Hocker's father, Roger, who, along with his wife, Janet, and daughter, Kathy, attended all court proceedings told media that Thursday's sentence was about what he expected.
'It was an appropriate sentence. I don't know what else to say,' he shared, fighting back tears. 'We have some satisfaction, but it doesn't bring Darrell back.'
Smith, who was 40 at the time, and Hocker were both being held on domestic battery charges at the time of their respective arrests. On Oct. 21, Smith was removed from the isolation cell and placed in a cell with another detainee (Hocker). Around 1 a.m., Nov. 8, 2023, two McDonough County jailers had finished their 20-minute rounds and had left the area where Smith and Hocker were being held together in a cell (a pod with a common area and three individual cells). After hearing noise and yelling, the jailers returned to the pod where they found Smith standing over Hocker, who was unresponsive. Hocker was transferred to McDonough District Hospital where he was pronounced deceased. Autopsy reports state that Hocker died from blunt force trauma and injuries sustained to the head and neck.
A civil suit was filed in October 2024 in U.S. Federal Court-Central Illinois District by Hannah Mellentine, Hocker's adult daughter. The 10-count suit seeks damages in excess of $3.5 million for 'loss of life, conscious pain and suffering,' additional compensatory damages and punitive damages, and demands a 12-person jury trial.
According to PACER, the federal court database, a status hearing has been set for Jan. 8, 2026. The attorneys for the plaintiff (Mellentine) must make their expert witnesses available for deposition by March 6, 2026, while the defendants must make their expert witnesses available by May 15, 2026, with close of all discovery set for June 15, 2026. A final pre-trial conference will be held Nov. 16, 2026, with a jury trial scheduled for Dec. 1, 2026. PACER documents show the involved parties have exchanged their initial disclosures which included over 5,000 documents and over 100 hours of audio and video recordings.
