(Lake County, IL) On Saturday, April 18, 2026, a jury convicted Nicholas Caban, 23, and Jacob Firestone, 22, of all counts of Second-Degree Murder for the brutal beating of a Highland Park man.  

After the verdict, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart stated, “While we are very satisfied that these two offenders have been found guilty of Second-Degree Murder, we continue to grieve with Matt's entire family for their devastating loss. Our office charged this case after the Major Crimes Task Force and Coroner's pathologist uncovered conclusive evidence that Matt was killed due to excessive violence from these two offenders. We are thankful that the jury closely followed the forensic and circumstantial evidence in order to see the truth and to convict both offenders on all counts. The investigators with the Major Crimes Task Force, the Coroner's Office, our trial team, and our victim advocates did an outstanding job on behalf of Matt and our entire community. We will continue to support the family as we prepare for the sentencing hearing.” 

The jury trial began on Monday, April 13, 2026, lasting six days. The State was represented by Chief of the Felony Division, Ben Dillon, and Assistant State’s Attorney Kyle Doyle. Prosecutors called more than a dozen witnesses, including law enforcement officers, medical personnel, and expert witnesses. 

The evidence showed that in the early morning hours of September 17, 2022, at approximately 5:12 a.m., the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force responded to Fort Sheridan Beach in Highland Park and found Matthew Ascaridis, 45, deceased with signs of trauma. 

Dr. Eimad Zakariya of the Lake County Coroner’s Officer provided detailed testimony regarding the severity of Matthew’s injuries and his cause of death. He also described catastrophic injuries to the spinal cord that he’s often seen in car accidents. 

Matthew’s wife testified that late night around 11:00 p.m., on September 16, 2022, the couple was packing for an upcoming trip when they began hearing loud noises near their home. She told jurors that Matthew had called the police twice to report the disturbance but was informed at around 1:00 a.m. that it could take some time for the officer to arrive. According to his wife, Matthew headed to the beach after speaking to the officer on the phone. 

The Forest Preserve officer who had spoken with Matthew that night, told jurors he arrived at Fort Sheridan Beach around 2:15 a.m., to respond to the noise complaint. Upon arriving, the officer did not see or hear anything on the beach.  

Law enforcement officers testified that on September 17, 2022, they responded to Caban’s residence at 5:23AM after receiving a 911 call from Caban reporting an altercation. When officers arrived to Caban’s home, they observed Firestone lying on the front yard and Caban standing nearby. Both defendants appeared injured, but officers described them as both being conscious.  

One investigator told jurors that Caban was later interviewed at the Highland Park Police Department. Caban claimed that he and Firestone had a confrontation with Matthew and that Matthew had fallen on the beach.  

A separate investigator described interviewing Firestone in the hospital during which time Firestone claimed Matthew beat both defendants. Prosecutors later argued that the details of Firestone’s statements were inconsistent with medical testimony and DNA evidence recovered from the blood found at the scene. 

During closing arguments, prosecutors argued that after the brutal beating, the defendants did not call police until hours later. Instead, prosecutors pointed out, the defendants left Matthew alone on the beach, unable to move, gasping for air, before succumbing to injuries.  

Second Degree Murder has a sentencing range of 4-20 years to be served at 50%. Their next court date is scheduled for June 18.