A rural Mackinaw teen faces decades behind bars after a judge ruled that she should be tried as an adult in a shooting that left her mother dead and her father injured.
Dahlia Bolin, 16, was charged Friday with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder in connection with the shooting on Oct. 22, 2021, that killed Rebecca Bolin and left Douglas Bolin wounded.
For more than a year, Dahlia’s attorneys have been preparing for a “transfer” hearing that would determine if she would be tried as an adult or remain in juvenile court. It mattered because remaining in the juvenile system would mean the case would have been sealed to the general public, and any imprisonment would have ended on her 21st birthday.
Judge David Brown, who presides over Pekin’s juvenile court, found it was appropriate to try her as an adult. The hearing, her attorney Joe Bembenek said, lasted about four hours. Her bond was set at $1 million and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 27.
Dahlia Bolin faces at least 20 years and up to 40 years behind bars if convicted of murder. However, if a judge finds she’s beyond rehabilitation, then it’s possible she could also be sentenced to 60 years. She also faces six to 30 years on the charge of attempted murder in connection with the shooting of her father.
Three others — Nathaniel Maloney, 19, of Morton, Andre Street, 18, of Groveland and Sage Raeuber, 21, of Morton — face murder charges in connection with the shootings. They face up to 60 years in prison and possibly more.
Raeuber told authorities she drove Maloney and Street to the residence, according to court documents. Raeuber also said Maloney and Street went into the home carrying firearms, she heard gunfire before they returned to the car, and she drove them from the scene.
According to a probable cause statement released Friday, a responding Mackinaw police officer met Dahlia Bolin outside of her house at about 9:15 p.m. that night. She told the officer that her parents were inside the house and had been shot.
She initially told the officer she had heard footsteps while in the home’s basement and then heard gunshots. She went upstairs, according to the probable cause statement, and saw that her parents had been shot.
However, after further questioning, she “admitted that, within the past couple of weeks, she had entered into a plan with Nathaniel Maloney, Andre Street, and Sage Raeuber to kill her father. Dahlia stated that Raeuber was to drive Maloney and Street to her residence and that, after she heard the gunshots, she went upstairs and observed Maloney and Street in the residence.”
Two days later, a detective interviewed Raeuber, who said Dahlia Bolin had offered to pay her, Street and Maloney to kill her parents. That was confirmed by Street, according to court records. It was Dahlia, Street said, who let them in the house that night, according to the probable cause statement.
Street, Maloney and Raeuber are all set to appear in court on April 13 for a review hearing.