After spending almost three years accused of killing his friend, a Salem man was sentenced May 26 in Kenosha County Circuit Court to three years behind bars for bail jumping and battery.
The case put a public spotlight on conflict inside the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office when newly-elected District Attorney Xavier Solis pushed the felony murder case forward despite his top prosecutor’s recommendation to drop the charge.
Dustin Hogan, 23, died Nov. 12, 2023, five days after he was found unresponsive at a residence above the Somers House tavern in Kenosha.
His friend Anthony Kanabay was accused of causing the head injury that led to his death during a fight. But the medical examiner could not rule out that a separate incident later that night was the fatal blow.
Deputy District Attorney Andrew Burgoyne wrote a letter to the court in July 2025 saying he could not ethically proceed with the felony murder charge against Kanabay after consulting with the medical examiner’s office.
Solis refused to drop the charges and personally took over the case. Burgoyne resigned weeks later. He is now with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.
The case against Kanabay was resolved with a plea deal in April, with Kanabay pleading guilty to two counts of bail jumping and misdemeanor battery in exchange for the felony murder charge being dropped. Both the defense and prosecution recommended probation.
Instead, Kenosha County Circuit Judge Jodi Meier sentenced Kanabay to two years in prison on one bail jumping count and gave him six years on a second, both for drinking in violation of bond conditions from a prior case. She suspended the six-year sentence, putting Kanabay on probation instead.
Meier also sentenced him to one year in county jail for a drug possession charge from a separate 2022 case.
Kanabay also received nine months in jail for the battery charge – the physical fight with Hogan that night – covered by time already served. All sentences will run consecutively.
In court, Hogan’s mother, Renee Hogan, said her family had been left in the dark throughout the case – never told about the plea deal or given a clear explanation why the felony murder charge was dropped.
“My son is still gone, and the person responsible for playing a role in his death is leaving this courtroom with barely any consequences,” she said.
Kanabay, who has been in custody since November 2023, told the judge that spending nearly three years in custody had changed him. He said he has stayed sober, been diagnosed with manic depression and started therapy.
“I used to rely on drugs to numb my emotions,” Kanabay said. “That was not how I was supposed to go about that.”
He said he missed his three children, ages 10, 9 and 6, and that he thought of Hogan as a brother.
“I miss my brother Dustin, too,” he said.
But Meier wasn’t convinced that Kanabay had changed.
“I don’t believe you,” Meier told Kanabay, pointing to a criminal record dating back to 2012 that included domestic violence convictions and years of substance abuse.
Outside the courtroom, defense attorney Mary Cole said the sentence blindsided them.
“We obviously thought that a joint recommendation (of probation) would be taken seriously in this type of case,” Cole said. “I’m just reeling from it.”
Solis, who prosecuted the case personally, declined to answer questions after the hearing.
Solis’ office has faced criticism over missed deadlines and the ethics of some of his directives. A Journal Sentinel investigation into Solis’s first year as District Attorney found that 15 of the 19 prosecutors he inherited had left.
Quinn Clark is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be emailed at QClark@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kenosha felony murder charge dropped, man sentenced on lesser counts
Reporting by Quinn Clark, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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