July 19, 2021
The second jury trial of a Janesville man charged with homicide is underway this week in Rock County Court.
District Attorney David O’Leary is trying to convict 24-year-old Julian Collazo of first-degree intentional homicide in the 2017 stabbing death of 43-year-old Christine Scaccia-Lubeck.
Collazo’s attorney Jeff Jensen contend that Collazo’s jealous girlfriend Nicole Kazar actually committed the murder. She is expected to testify in court Tuesday.
Monday’s testimony featured the victim’s mother describing the moment she discovered her daughter’s dead body.
Multiple Janesville police officers and detectives also testified with evidence collected from the crime scene, including Collazo’s shoes that match a shoe print left in the victim’s blood.
Attorneys reach a plea deal for a Janesville stabbing suspect in a case prosecutors described as “he said, he said.”
30-year-old Shedrick Baldwin of Beloit was originally charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide for the 2018 stabbing of Ladale Johnson over a woman Baldwin was in a relationship with.
He pleaded guilty Tuesday to an amended charge of second-degree recklessly endangering safety, and Rock County Judge Barbara McCrory sentenced him to 14 months in prison followed by 30 months of extended supervision.
Defense attorney Walt Isaacson said Baldwin was being choked by Johnson when he stabbed him, and the two had a prior history of altercations.