The man charged with the brutal 2004 rape and murder of 3-year-old Riley Fox is in negotiations with prosecutors about a deal that could have him pleading guilty today, his attorney says.
Convicted sex offender Scott Eby was arrested in May after DNA evidence linked him to the vicious slaying. He has since given a videotaped confession, an attorney briefed on the case has said.
Michael Renzi, Eby's attorney, said he had "high hopes" that the case would be resolved today.
"It's his call -- we're in negotiations and I think we're very close," he said. Renzi declined to comment on the terms of a possible deal.
A state's attorney's spokesman also declined to comment.
Riley Fox was sleeping in her Wilmington living room on a June night six years ago when she vanished, her blanket still on the couch. She was found, bound with duct tape and sexually assaulted, in a nearby creek.
In the same creek, Will County investigators found shoes with Eby's name written in them. But they focused instead on Kevin Fox, Riley's father.
He was charged with murder and rape that October, but released after spending eight months in jail when DNA testing cleared him. A federal jury later awarded Kevin and his wife, Melissa, $8 million.
A cell phone message left tonight for their attorney, Kathleen Zellner, was not immediately returned.
Charges against Eby were brought after the FBI began investigating the case last year.
Eby is serving two consecutive seven-year sentences for a 2005 sex-assault conviction after forcing a relative to have sex with him while her husband slept in another room.
He is being held at the Stateville Correctional Center outside Joliet.
Wednesday's hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
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