Jury Convicts Man In 2021 Murders Of Wheeling Mom, Daughter: Report
By Eric Degrechie
Published on March 11, 2026.
A jury in the Circuit Court of Cook County has convicted man, Michael Fowler, of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated kidnapping for the 2021 murders of Ja'Nya Murphy, 21, and her 1-year-old daughter. The jury deliberated for less than two hours before finding the guilty verdict. Prosecutors allege that Fowler had an on-and-off relationship with Murphy and kidnapped the child. He was arrested in October 2021 and remains in the Cook County Jail.
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