The man accused of killing Illinois State Trooper Nicholas Hopkins in the line of duty in August 2019 entered a guilty plea to the murder charges.
Hopkins was 33 years old when he was killed by Christopher R. Grant, 49, while attempting to execute a search warrant at Grant’s East St. Louis residence.
Grant entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder on Dec. 21 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court. He was sentenced to 37 years in prison. He previously pleaded guilty to murder charges in federal court on July 9, 2021, as part of a federal drug trafficking case. He was sentenced to 34 years in prison for that plea. Grant will continue to serve out his state court sentence after the expiration of his federal court sentence.
Including time served, Grant will not be eligible for parole until he is 82 years old.
“On the day that this tragic event happened, I said that justice would be done unto those responsible,” St. Clair County State’s Attorney James Gomric stated in a press release. “Justice was done today. This is effectively a life sentence. The disposition was reached with the approval of Whitney Hopkins, the widow of Nicholas Hopkins, and command staff for the Illinois State Police. This office recognizes the sacrifice of Nick and his fellow members of law enforcement, and the sacrifice of their families, like Whitney. She and all of law enforcement are always in our thoughts and prayers.”
Grant was being investigated for distribution of marijuana and crack cocaine from his home on North 42nd Street in East St. Louis. The Illinois State Police utilized its SWAT Team to execute a search warrant on belief that Grant maintained a cache of weapons inside the home.
In the early morning of Aug. 23, 2019, Hopkins and two other ISP SWAT Team members entered the porch of Grant’s home to connect chains to the steel bars securing the front door of the residence. Grant shot at the troopers with a 9mm handgun, firing three rounds. Hopkins was struck in the head by one of the rounds, which passed through the main entry door of the residence. Troopers returned fire, and Hopkins was transported to St. Louis University Hospital with life-threatening injuries. He succumbed to those injuries at 6:10 p.m.
The St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office filed its initial complaint against Grant the following day on Aug. 24, 2019. Grant was indicted by a grand jury on Sept. 13, 2019, on three counts of first-degree murder and other crimes associated with the possession of weapons and drug distribution.
While the state court case was pending, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois charged Grant for the same events. A federal grand jury returned a multi-count indictment.