(Photo by Nathan DeBruin, Kenosha County Eye)
A 20-year-old Illinois man, who was charged last month for two serious felonies and one misdemeanor, is facing more than 20 years in the Wisconsin Prison System if convicted. Elijah J. Schoffstall was charged on March 15, 2024 with Felony Injury By Intoxicated Use Of A Vehicle, Felony Second Degree Recklessly Endangering Safety, and Misdemeanor Obstructing an Officer.
According to court documents, the charges stem from a May 20, 2023 incident in which Schoffstall drove drunk and almost killed himself and his then-girlfriend, Marissa Chon.
On May 19, 2023, Chon and Schoffstall, both adults, but under 21 at the time, were doing what many college students do on a Friday night – drinking alcohol with friends. At about 2:21 am, the two were involved in a serious car wreck at Carthage College, a school where they both attended. Both were severely injured and were lucky to survive. Police and bystanders quickly arrived at the scene of the crash to render aid.
(Photo Courtesy Kenosha Police)
(Photo Courtesy Kenosha Police)
Schoffstall was lying on the ground when police arrived and was quick to blame his girlfriend, Chon as being the driver of the vehicle. Two women, who were on the scene when police arrived, were not involved, but stopped to help. They told police that Marissa admitted to being the driver of the car, however, her acknowledgment was only a head-nod, not a verbal admission. Unknown to anyone at the time, Marissa had suffered a severe concussion and broken jaw. She did not remember who was driving, but told police that usually no one else drives her car. She didn’t even remember who was inside the car when it crashed. Both her and her boyfriend appeared intoxicated to police.
One Kenosha Police Officer did however note that the seat of the Honda Civic was all the way back. Chon is very short and Schoffstall is very tall. Schoffstall was in possession of a fake ID.
(Kenosha County Sheriff)
Based on Eli Schoffstall’s statement that Chon was driving, and her “head nod admissions” to two witnesses, she was arrested and charged with a serious felony called “Injury by Intoxicated Use of A Vehicle.” She was facing 12.5 years being bars in a Wisconsin prison, Chon stuck to her original story that she was not driving. Her story never changed.
(Photo Courtesy Kenosha Police)
(Photo Courtesy Kenosha Police)
Police noticed that there were spots of blood on both the driver’s side and passengers’ side airbags. The detective collected the driver’s side airbag and swabbed the blood from the passenger side airbag.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Chon and her family hired prominent Racine criminal defense attorney Mark Richards and he got to work. Richards noticed the Kenosha Police officer who said on his body-worn-camera something to the effect of “there is no way she was driving, look how far back the seat is” He also noticed that police took the blood from the airbags. Eventually, Kenosha Police sent both airbags to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab. The results came back conclusively on September 20, 2023. The swab taken of the driver’s side airbag came back as a single source male profile that matched Elijah Schoffstall and excluded Marissa Chon. The swab taken from the passenger side airbag came back as a single source female profile that matched Marissa Chon and excluded Schoffstall. The result for each airbag indicated that the probability of the DNA belonging to an unrelated individual is not more frequent than one in one quadrillion (1:1,000,000,000,000,000).
(Photo Courtesy Kenosha Police)
The results were remarkable. Chon’s blood was on the passenger side airbag and Schoffstall’s DNA was on the driver’s side airbag. The evidence is 100% conclusive that Schoffstall was driving, and thus lied to police and threw his girlfriend under the bus. The Kenosha District Attorney’s office dismissed charges against Marissa Chon.
KCE spoke with Chon’s mother Kirsten, who said that Marissa is very traumatized by this entire ordeal. She wishes that the DA’s office would have waited to charge her daughter until all of the evidence was back. Kirsten is furious that Schoffstall lied to the police and let Marissa take the fall. Kirsten was upset that police didn’t let Marissa call her family after the crash. Chon’s extended family felt that the Kenosha DA appeared to be “trying to sweep this under the rug.”
Chon and her mother are both very thankful that Kenosha Police and Attorney Richards were able to exonerate Marissa.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
KCE spoke with Kenosha County DA Mike Graveley immediately after the charges against Chon were dismissed. He couldn’t comment on specifics, but did tell us that the case was still under review by its office. KCE does have knowledge that medical blood draws require extra time to be used in court for prosecution, so it didn’t immediately appear that the DA’s office is doing anything unusual.
A spokesman from the Kenosha Police Department sympathized with Chon and explained to KCE that the evidence available at the time was enough to establish probable cause to charge Chon. The DA’s office, which is the only agency with the authority to issue charges, agreed. KPD says that when their investigation took a turn, they immediately notified the DA’s office that they had the wrong person.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
KCE spoke to Chon’s family, who were present in court today. They are understandably upset with a couple of key differences in the prosecution of the two. Chon’s mugshot was and still is on the Sheriff’s Department website, even though she was exonerated. The Sheriff’s Department knows she was exonerated but leaves the mug shot up anyway, even after she submitted the necessary paperwork according to the Sheriff’s policy on its website. Chon is so prejudiced by her mugshot and dismissed charges being publically displayed, that she is missing school and employment opportunities, and istaking other measures to restore her reputation.
Shoffstall’s mugshot, however, isn’t on the website. The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department scrubbed it off of the website. This is due to an outdated policy that is set to automatically remove mugshots from suspects that aren’t booked in to the jail (pics and prints.) KCE asked the Sheriff’s Department why they keep the seemingly unfair policy in place, and they didn’t wish to address the issue.
Chon and her family believe she is being treated differently. Chon had to pay a $1,000 cash bail to be released. Schoffstall, however was given a no-cash bail from commissioner Michel. Instead of having Schoffstall arrested with a warrant, DA Mike Graveley (D), instead, asked Schoffstall by mail to come to court for his initial appearance on March 19, 2024. We asked Graveley why he was given the white-glove treatment, and Graveley did not wish to answer the tough question.
(Photo by Nathan DeBruin, Kenosha County Eye)
Schoffstall is due back in court on June 13 for a judicial pre-trial. Today, he waived his right to a preliminary hearing and probable cause was found to bind him over for trial. Shoffstall remained stoic and seemingly unapologetic in court today in the presence of the victim’s family members.
Chon’s family told KCE that she has always been an honor student, from early school years through college. She loves the outdoors and staying active. She enjoys cross country and soccer. Chon’s extended family relayed their biggest concerns today. They really are looking for Schoffstall to take responsibility, apologize, and atone for his mistakes. Her family doesn’t necessarily hold a grudge over what they call a “tragic accident”, but the continuous and sustained lies after the fact that cost Chon her reputation and tens of thousands of dollars in damages. The accusation that Schoffstall lied to the police, is the family’s biggest concern. Chon had to drain her college savings for her legal defense and after that was gone, her family sustained a major financial impact. Chon’s family wants to be made whole financially with full restitution for all expenses incurred as a result of Eli’s lies
If you’re interested in helping Ms. Chon, here is a link where you can chip in five bucks or more.
https://gofund.me/2f71cddf
67 Responses
Eli, you’re a piece of shit.
Wonderful DA sooner he is gone the better!!!
************ This whole thing is a shit show. His family should be embarrassed for their actions and the lies told. Must be nice to have money and to be privileged. Good luck to this piece of shit for not taking responsibility of HIS actions. They owe her a public apology just as they smeared her name.
What a dick!
Minus any balls.
This kid is another entitled spoiled brat.
Another rich liberal being protected by an elitist liberal in the DA’s office. Both scum… DA is a slithering coward!
what does politics have to do with any of this…. you are incompetent. i knew this kid, definitely not a liberal nice try tho!
the kid is still a piece of shit
lmao the schoffstall family is far from liberal
Actually his family and him are huge conservatives so 😬
If he got away with it, he would just be doing it again.
Glad this was nipped in the bud.
Hopefully, he will be the girlfriend in prison and get
snitched on for something he didn’t do.
Sue ’em!
Aside from his ” boyfriend of the year ” award , it would interesting to know who his father is.
Once again , our illustrious DA is not gravely concerned with the truth . I believe this poor girl has several potential lawsuits at her disposal.
Don’t worry. Gravely will f this one up too.
I would like to date him.
Bend over
Where is the 🤣 emoji! Good one!
How many times has Gravely jumped to conclusions and charged people too quickly and without sufficient evidence? The Kyle Rittenhouse situation woke us all up. He can’t be gone soon enough. It’s a real shame. At one time, I had respect for the man.
Now Gravely is nothing but woke idiot! His 2 minutes of fame is over.
This Punk will never be a Stand Up Citizen.
This is once again such a bullshit biased article. All she had was a head injury and you don’t know what type of injuries Eli suffered. This whole article is shit and so are you
Nobody ever denied that he had suffered terrible injuries, because they were bad. But he caused both of the injuries as the driver.
Hopefully, you and him can arrange conjugal visits.
Lol funny, her jaw was split open and had to have stitches. Sounds like you dont know all of it either <3
Biased?? Are you okay, there was literally dna proof of who was on which side. No one said he didn’t suffer injuries but he literally lied and almost killed himself and her. Get some help seriously, defending a liar is crazy
one of eli’s homies spotted
How serious could his injuries have been? He was blaming his girlfriend from the minute the police showed up
You are clueless to this world, obviously his injuries are left out to make her side seem the right one. If you are in a life or death situation not knowing if you will be able to live again, how much thought and effort is really going into his response?
So…I think that you are the one that may be “clueless to this world”. He LIED for almost a year and let this girl take the fall for something he was responsible for! It speaks to his character and the character of the people around him. He’s a shitty human end of story.
You must be a friend of Eli’s and/or family. It’s not a biased article. Sure he suffered injuries but he was wrong by driving and lying to the police. She had a broken jaw (says in the article) and had to have surgery. He could have killed them both. He needs to take responsibility and own his up to his mistake. There is always more to the story. But the bottom line is he’s at fault and a liar by trying to lay blame elsewhere.
On side note why does every article have to give their affiliation with a political party? Perfect example of what’s going on in this country…one party is automatically bad to one person and good to the next. So tired of politics. This summer and fall is going to be so stupid, particularly in this area.
ghey phaggot poosays soccer players are
This boyfriend has poor moral character. His mama didn’t raise him right.
Hey Anonymous Comment from Apr 5, 2024 at 3:51 PM
“All she had was a head injury”
Really? That’s how you think? Since when is a head injury a minor injury? Bones heal, head injuries are often much more serious. Think about it! Educate yourself! You’re not well informed.
I hope you rot in prison Eli
Free my bro Fr !
He didn’t do nothing!
This scumbag took my sister to prom in 9th grade and after reading this I started crying thinking how that could have been my sister. This piece of shit better get what he deserves
Crazy how someone can say this while being so uneducated over a situation? Your crying over a situation that never happened, tell me a 9th grader that has their license. Get the fuck on with your life cause your the real scum bag, u fool.
It’s actually “you’re” lol.
Liberal ^
Regardless he’s a scumbag and put someone else’s life in risk so argue that punk.
Yo boy is locked up cry about it 😭
Honda needs to make the civic drunk worthy
Don’t drop the soap!
!!! Knowing Eli from Highschool, I can confidently say this wasn’t his first time drinking and driving. His friends can all confirm this. It finally caught up to him. Hopefully he learned his lesson. I feel so bad for that poor girl & her family.
You’re not helping him lol
!!!!! You don’t know shit Karen, and I can guarantee you don’t know Eli either. Sure you may say you know him from high school but everyone knows him from high school, all state soccer player, popular kid. I can guarantee you were not friends with Eli in high school because the things you just said are far from the truth🤣
And for you to take the time to come onto this corny ass website when I know you are just some fan of Eli is fuckin absurd. Fremd was filled with people like you that just utterly disgust me, too quick to judge and can never see the other side through. I’ve probably spotted you in the halls and laughed, because you are a joke and I can tell!!
😭😭 ^ The fact you’re defending him shows your morals… I’m not lying when I say he was in my hs friend group, so I’ve witnessed him and his boys (probably you included🙄) drink and drive after party’s all the time. You guys thought you were so cool. Drinking and driving is not cool! He is lucky he didn’t kill himself or others. He lied to us (his friends) after the accident and told us he wasn’t the driver, I didn’t believe it at first just knowing his behavior, but later fell for the lie. We felt sorry for him. Later to find out now he was being a d$ck (per usual) and lied to save his ass. I wish I was lying Mr. Eli wannabe, but thankfully I’m not a lying manipulator 🤣
Eli has never drank and drove in high school and I stand by that you fuckin fool, once again average Fremd student. You honestly suck ugly ass whore, go read a book or talk to ur other gossip fiending friends. Get a fucking grip.
You are irrelevant and I can tell you 100% you do not know what Eli’s friends would be doing. You would not be anywhere close to around them. And for you to throw people under the bud by saying lies in complete bullshit.
“Irrelevant” that’s what his bully boy group used to call girls who rejected them. You’re 100% one of Eli’s d sucking minions. The fact you still stand by his behavior is pathetic. Misery loves company, you should join him in prison😌💅
If you knew him or his character at all you wouldn’t be commenting stuff like that that help villainize him
I felt so bad for her. I just happened to be in jail, when she got released from the hospital. I could not believe they released her in the condition she was in, I am sure it was all just to get her booked, and in the amount of pain from the broken jaw was extremely noticeable. She told me herself she was not driving (however I had no idea if you could believe or not at the time). She was supposed to even get medication upon release and she had to sit there I believe around 2-3 hours in severe pain and they would not give her medications. I am happy to hear this was reversed but sad to see it took so long. While i am an idiot for the mistake I made, I am glad I was able to talk to her and console her as the cell was empty and she was clearly very upset before they took her to county jail.
Where is the video from the bar, that will prove who was driving … and why was car towed when it was suppose to be at police department for investigation. And who took the air bags to have tested ??? Was that legal ?
Both were drinking and underage … also Where is the video from the bar, that will prove who was driving … and why was car towed when it was suppose to be at police department for investigation. And who took the air bags to have tested ??? Was that legal ?
Anyone defending this kid should be humilated.
What a gentleman
get bro behind the wheel
I would smack tf outta yo goofy ass
Guys this sucks
Not really
Played bball with Eli. Was a great athlete and competitor, and I respect that. This is unbelievable though. I can’t believe this guy would let his girl take the fall for almost killing them both. Didn’t know him well, but I could always see how entitled he was. Gonna make a great gf in jail Frr
Where’s the video from them leaving the bar she works at ??? Oh no evidence yet …
Where’s the video from the bar that the GF WORKED at ?? No evidence of who the drivers !