Morrison Police Chief recounts timeline of double shooting

Editor’s note: Sauk Valley Media is not at this time identifying the victims of this crime.

MORRISON – As the 18-year-old approached the black Passat that just pulled up to the curb at 507 W. Main St. shortly before 8:30 Tuesday night, shots rang out from inside the car. He went down, hit in the head, in the abdomen, in the leg.

Somewhere behind him, a 24-year-old woman was struck twice in the leg. Witnesses on the scene and neighbors who heard the shots called 9-1-1.

The car sped off.

A little more than 4 hours later, Jeramie M. House, 24, walked out of his parents' home in rural Morrison and was arrested without incident. He is being held in Whitesdie County Jail.

Thursday, House appeared via video in Whiteside County Court, where Morrison Police Chief Brian Melton told the story of what investigators learned so far.

His testimony was to show Associate Judge Jim Heuerman why investigators believe, after interviewing multiple witnesses, that they have probable cause to charge House with four felonies, nine counts total: two of attempted murder, four of aggravated battery with a firearm, two of aggravated discharge of a firearm, and the last of possessing a gun, a violation of the revocation of his FOID card.

After hearing the testimony, Heuerman agreed there was probable cause that House "had committed some crime," and set his bond at $500,000. He has a preliminary hearing Nov. 4.

According to Melton:

While being treated by EMTs, the 18-year-old, who remained in critical condition Thursday in a Rockford hospital, told police that Jodie Knight was in the car.

He and Knight agreed on social media to hang out that night.

Knight was a front-seat passenger in the Passat, Courtney Queckborner was driving and House was in the back seat, sitting behind the driver with his legs pointed toward the passenger side.

House, of Morrison, is a 2013 Unity Christian High School graduate, Knight, now of Clinton, Iowa, but originally from Chadwick, is a Unity Christian senior, and Queckborner is a 2019 Milledgeville High School graduate, according to their Facebook pages and SVM archives.

As they drove up to the house in Morrison, where the two victims and multiple other people lived, Knight called to the 18-year-old to let him know she was there. He came out of the house and walked toward the car, and several other people came out on the porch at the same time.

As he was approaching, the girls told investigators that they heard gunshots coming from the back of the car. They took off east on Lincolnway and turned onto Norton Road, and as they fled, House dismantled a rifle and threw the pieces out the window.

They dropped him off at his blue Blazer, and then drove to the Sheriff's Office, where they told deputies what had happened, lead them to the area where the gun parts were tossed, and told investigators that House was going to his parents' home.

Deputies searched the rural area and found all three pieces of the rifle, along with two magazines taped together and some ammunition.

They went to the rural Morrison home, contacted House inside, and he came out the back door and surrendered around 1:20 a.m., Melton testified.

If convicted, House faces 6 to 30 years in prison, with a possible 20-year enhancement, for attempted murder. The four aggravated battery with a firearm charges – one for each shot that hit the 18-year-old, and one for the woman's wounds – also carry 6 to 30 years, and aggravated discharge of a firearm, filed for shooting "in the direction" of each victim, carries 4 to 15 years. All require that 85% of the sentence be served.

Possession of a firearm without having a FOID card carries 2 to 5 years.

Why House's FOID card was revoked was not stated in court, and is not a matter of public record, but it likely is the result of the three orders of protection filed against him, two in 2016 and one in 2017.

In them, the woman filing for protection – who is not the woman who was shot Tuesday – says that in September 2016, as she was driving a drunken House home with her dad following in another vehicle, he "pulled his Glock" from the console, hung out the window, pointed it at her father and threatened to shoot him.

According to her, in May 2017, he told her he would show her "what an AK could do" if she made him angry. "... I'll go to prison if I have to to get my point across, you're going to live in fear," she wrote in her explanation of why she was seeking the order.

"My worst fear of him is that he will follow through with these numerous gun threats, now that I am actually calling the police on him ... He has had numerous episodes that have put him in a psychiatric ward ...," she wrote.

It should be noted that the 2016 orders of protection were dismissed, the first because she failed to appear, the second on her motion to dismiss; the third was resolved by an agreed order.

In addition, House has no felony or midemeanor history in Whiteside, Lee or Carroll counties as an adult.

Sterling attorney James Mertes, who represented House in the third order of protection, also is representing him in this case, which will be assigned to Circuit Judge Trish Senenff.

The mother of the 18-year-old posted on social media Wednesday that her son “has already undergone lengthy surgery and is still facing more [including one set for noon Friday]. He’s in the fight of his life.”