Police called for ‘violent beating’ hours before man allegedly shot and killed his girlfriend, reports say

NEW BADEN, Ill. (KMOV/Gray News) - The family of a woman allegedly murdered by her ex-boyfriend says her murder could have been prevented.

According to documents obtained by KMOV, 911 was called after Emmet Metzger, 26, was accused of a violent beating just 12 hours before he itted to shooting and killing 24-year-old Alexis Maki.

Maki was shot and killed at her New Baden, Illinois, apartment on Nov. 4, 2023. According to the Clinton County State’s Attorney, Metzger itted to the shooting over a 911 call.

“I f**ked up,” Metzger said in the call. “I did something so bad. I shot my girlfriend. I need to be arrested, please.”

Metzger made the panicked call around 4:20 p.m. and turned himself into New Baden Police.

According to Maki’s family, the incident happened about a month after she and Metzger broke up.

“I don’t think any of us really knew who he was. I really don’t,” Maki’s mother Lisa Brock said.

Maki’s family says that after her relationship with Metzger ended, they realized what he may be capable of.

“He was very jealous of her not spending all of her time with him,” Brock said. “He was just making her life miserable.”

On the day that Maki died, Metzger allegedly asked her to come over to the apartment in New Baden, Illinois, that the two shared. Though Maki’s name was on the lease, her family says she had recently started staying at her mother’s house to get away from Metzger.

Metzger allegedly asked Maki to bring the dog that they adopted over to the apartment so he could see her one last time.

“I said, ‘I don’t feel good about this,’ and she said, ‘Neither do I,’” Brock said. “So, I said, ‘Don’t go.’”

Brock says Maki told her that Metzger would not hurt her.

“I said, ‘You don’t know that,’” Brock said.

Just hours before, around 4:20 a.m., police in Lebanon, Illinois, responded to a reported attack at Grit and Tonic, just 12 minutes from the apartment in New Baden, Illinois.

Maki, Giovanni Venuti and another coworker had just clocked out after a long shift working at the bar. The three were talking in the parking lot when Metzger showed up, according to an incident report.

Venuti says he recognized the truck because Metzger had pulled up before.

“[Metzger] got out of his truck, walked up to the enger side window of Alexis’ car where I was at and punched me four or five times,” Venuti said.

Another coworker witnessed the alleged beating and called 911.

Pictures taken immediately following the incident show blood dripping from Venuti’s face, on his shirt, in Alexis’ car and on her dress. Medical records also detail how Venuti was left with at least one chipped tooth.

While Lebanon Police interviewed each of the three witnesses for about 30 minutes total, the incident report states this concluded the extent of their efforts to track down Metzger despite having his phone number, home address, license plate number and evidence of a victim left disfigured.

“I made it very clear I wanted to press charges,” Venuti said. “We wanted him in jail. The last thing I was the officer telling me he was off at 6 a.m.”

Venuti says police did not continue their investigation until about four hours later when his father showed up at the Lebanon Police Department, wondering why Metzger was not arrested.

“I was frustrated that he was still out there,” Venuti’s father said. “So, I sent [police] a picture of his vehicle, his work schedule, his address at the time and his phone number, yet nothing happened as a result of that.”

This is the same information the police had hours earlier.

It was only after Venuti’s father showed up that police called Metzger and left a voicemail, according to the incident report. According to the report, Metzger called back about an hour later and scheduled a time to come in for a recorded interview. The meeting was set for 6 p.m., but Metzger never showed up.

“They treated it like it was a job application,” Venuti said.

Attorney Elizabeth Kaveny says she does not understand why authorities extended “that kind of courtesy” to Metzger.

Kaveny does not represent Maki’s family, but she has worked on police misconduct cases before and said Maki’s family should be furious.

“I would be outraged,” Kaveny said. “I think that there’s a difference between a person of interest, a suspect and a suspect with probable cause for arrest. [Police] treated Emmet like a person of interest.”

Kaveny also said the extent of the damage done to Venuti would raise potential charges to a felony, making Metzger a suspected felon that police let roam the streets.

The incident report also details Maki had told police she wasn’t scared of Metzger before, but now she was.

“Was there disregard or indifference for the safety of others? Yeah,” Kaveny said.

Venuti says he has gone through all of the possibilities of what police could have done and what they did not do.

“They didn’t do anything,” he said.

Lebanon police declined an interview but provided a statement to KMOV.

“These were 2 separate incidents with a very tragic ending. Police Departments handle battery (not assault) cases on a daily basis, and many times the suspect isn’t apprehended for days/weeks after the fact. So, you are aware (Safe Act) in Illinois even if this suspect was found (this specific case) he would have been given a summons and released pending a court date. There is only one person to blame for the senseless murder of that young lady in New Baden and that is the suspect. Suggesting anything else is ridiculous,” the department said in the statement.

Metzger has yet to be charged in the alleged attack on Venuti.

According to court records, Metzger has obtained private counsel in the murder trial in which he has pled not guilty. His attorney declined to comment on the situation.

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