A Chicago judge said Friday he won't replace a special prosecutor looking into why the state's attorney's office abruptly dismissed charges against actor Jussie Smollett, rejecting concerns that campaign money could taint the findings.

R. Kelly's lawyers want the judge in the singer's New York federal case to reconsider and grant him bond, saying the hardships of being jailed include being able to see just one of two previous live-in girlfriends at a time.

A federal judge hearing the city of Chicago's lawsuit against Jussie Smollett says she'll rule on the actor's request to toss the suit in October.

Chicago police on Monday released more than 1,000 files from the investigation into Jussie Smollett's claim he was attacked by two men, including video footage that for the first time shows the "Empire" actor with a thin, white rope wrapped around his neck that he told detectives was a noose.

An infant boy who was cut from a Chicago woman's womb with a butcher knife died Friday at a hospital where he had been in grave condition since the April attack that killed his mother, family spokeswomen said.

Inside a Chicago-area hospital, a baby fights for his life. The infant is in intensive care and listed in grave condition after he was cut from his mother's womb in an attack on her last month.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Saturday he's reached an agreement with key lawmakers on a plan to legalize recreational marijuana in the state starting next year.

A chemical leak that caused a toxic plume to hang for hours over a northern Chicago suburb Thursday sickened dozens of people, including seven who are in critical condition, officials said.

Police believe an Illinois couple who reported their 5-year-old son missing last week killed him days earlier by beating him and forcing him to stand in a cold shower for an extended period of time, according to court documents released Thursday.