Geneva’s first double murder courtesy of Emma’s Landing – part 2

Geneva’s first double murder courtesy of Emma’s Landing – part 2

As you might imagine, the mostly private feedback on Tuesday’s column came in fast and furious. Though 75 percent of it was (surprisingly) positive, let’s clear some things up before we continue.

We’ll start with the fact that I’m no conservative. No matter how many times I openly declare my classic Evanston liberal status, prejudicial progressives take great glee in defining me based on just one of my 3,000 columns. For reference purposes, classic liberals are the folks who propelled the Civil Right movement, defended our gay brothers and sisters when it wasn’t fashionable to do so, fought for worker’s rights, and protected the environment.

So, just as comedian Chris Rock explained that he loves black people, but hates n-words, I love liberals, but loathe progressives. My message for the progressives who completely misinterpreted part one is, since you’re utterly hopeless, please go bother someone who cares about you – if anyone actually does.

To the progressive woman who insisted that the 2023 murder-suicide on Pebble Beach Court in Geneva was a double murder, my fondest wish is you have no plans to reproduce. Alejandro Cota would’ve done us all a great favor had he similarly taken his own life after killing his common-law wife and her middle school son, but he committed Geneva’s first double homicide instead.

And were either of the Pebble Beach Court descedants multiple felons that shouldn’t have been living there?

Then there was the persistent insistence that this could happen anywhere? Really? Prior to that tragedy, how many Geneva middle schoolers have been brutally murdered since 1858? That’s right. None! A reader wrote in to tell me his son was in that poor boy’s class and he and his classmates are truly shaken over his untimely death. 

And the folks who claim that Emma’s Landing is not responsible for this are full of shit. That child’s death lies squarely at the feet of Mayor Burns, Tracey Manning of the Burton Foundation, and every single city council member who voted for this poorly conceived project. We could base that accusation on simple negligence, but  there’s much more than negligence involved here.

We’ll get to that shortly.

Now that we’ve cleared all of that up, let’s tackle the bleeding-heart progressive notion that this double murder was an isolated incident, because it wasn’t.

As we alluded to in the first part, just before Thanksgiving, Peter Audet beat the shit out of his fiancé’s mother in their Emma’s Landing townhome. He’s currently sitting in the Kane County jail on six separate felony charges, including one of the Class X variety. In fact, Mr. Audet’s record makes Mr. Cota look like he’s a fine, upstanding citizen. Prior to his “incident” Audet’s charges include, but aren’t nearly limited to:

  •         Aggravated assault
  •         Driving on a revoked license
  •         Transportation of drugs
  •         Obstructing a police officer
  •         Felony car theft
  •         Domestic battery
  •         Felony Meth possession
  •         Multiple orders of protection violations
  •         Criminal damage to property
  •         Felony aggravated battery to a police officer
  •         Felony criminal damage to government property
  •         Felony fleeing a police officer
  •         Multiple aggravated DUIs
  •         Criminal trespass
  •         Resisting arrest
  •         Felony armed robbery
  •         Burglary
  •         Felony domestic battery

That’s quite an impressive feat for someone who’s all of 27 years old. Oh! And ladies! If this prize ever gets out of the slammer and you play your cards right, despite having a child with his Emma’s Landing baby momma, his Facebook profile indicates that he’s in an “open relationship.”

And Ms. Manning and the foundation were well aware of both Cota’s and Audet’s prohibited presence because some of the residents bitterly complained about their constant alcohol-fueled antics. Yet Manning did absolutely nothing but collect her $190,000 a year salary.

The Landing’s leases clearly define and stipulate that any occupant over the age of 18 MUST be on the lease, yet de facto residents Cota and Audet were completely ignored because then they wouldn’t have to screen them, would they? Cota even went as far as listing his address as the one on Emma’s Way.

So, to the anonymous bleep who claimed that I was claiming all Emma’s Landing residents were criminals, the truth is the majority of those law-abiding tenants are even more furious over the Burton Foundation’s persistent failures than I am.

Another resident wrote in to explain how she and her husband had to go through some serious background checks before they could move in. Apparently that doesn’t apply to live-in boyfriends – or any new prospects, either.

So, as I asserted before, the Mayor, the aldermen who voted “yes,” and Manning and the entire Foundation are directly responsible for the death of a mother and her child.

And I’m willing to risk a libel suit by guaranteeing that, fearful of bad publicity, Mayor Burns instructed the Geneva Police to go easy on any Emma’s Landing “problems.” But you can’t hide is a double murder.

Since I’m sure the GPD intervened prior to these two incidents, I’ll be FOIAing Audet’s and Cota’s specific police reports shortly. Or maybe I’ll ask Ms. Manning’s brother or sister, both of whom live in one of her projects rent free. So much for these townhomes going to low-income residents.

Failing that, perhaps I should call her husband whose construction company built Emma’s Landing. It would seem that Geneva’s become nothing more than a jobs program for the Manning family.

And just for good measure, Burns is going out of his way to protect the Burton Foundation by refusing to put them in any position where they’d have to answer to the public. That makes me wonder what they’d have to say about him. Perhaps it’s the obvious kickback he’s getting for ramming this debacle through.

Lest you think this is the end of affordable housing in Geneva, let me assure you it’s not. The Mayor and City Manager have designated 11 other areas for more of the same, and in their drive to get the population over the home rule mark, they’ll just keep stacking them up.

 

In part three we’ll discuss the affordable housing initiatives that actually do work!

3 thoughts on “Geneva’s first double murder courtesy of Emma’s Landing – part 2

  1. Unfortunately, the problem with police FOIAs, is whether they wrote a report for the call. I tried this for a problem with my neighbor, where he had called the police more than once and there was no record for me to give my lawyer. If they didn’t write a report, then there will be no record

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