Donna Kathryn Kelly is a former prosecutor, who practiced law in the Illinois criminal justice system for many years. Kelly began her legal career as an assistant public defender handling felony and juvenile cases, and subsequently worked as an assistant appellate defender for seven years. Kelly has orally argued multiple times before the Appellate Court of Illinois and twice before the Supreme Court of Illinois.
After devoting the first decade of her legal career to criminal defense, Kelly subsequently worked as a prosecutor at the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office in northern Illinois, where she tried numerous felony cases to jury verdict. In 2007, she was honored by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists with the Outstanding Assistant State’s Attorney (Illinois) of the Year Award for her commitment and dedication to seeking justice for victims of impaired drivers. Later in her career, Kelly served in executive level managerial positions as Chief of the Civil Division and subsequently, First Assistant State’s Attorney.
Kelly is an experienced lecturer, having presented at numerous conferences and trainings over the years, including at the Lifesavers National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities in 2015 in Chicago, Illinois, the South Dakota Association of County Officials Spring Workshop in 2018 in Pierre, South Dakota, and the Nebraska Writers Guild Spring Writers Conference in 2019 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Kelly is the author of a novel, COP EYES, a murder mystery concerning an Illinois public defender, Cheney Manning, whose police officer husband is killed in the line of duty.
COP EYES is available for purchase on Amazon. com at https://www.amazon.com/Donna-Kelly/e/B09NQH3J9B/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1