Man charged with fatal shooting in Joliet: cops

A Joliet man was charged Friday with fatally shooting a Romeoville man earlier this week, police said.

Jorge Rosas, 41, was initially taken to jail Wednesday on a warrant for possession of a weapon by felon that carried a $1 million bond, as well as several traffic and drug charges.

Police detectives identified Rosas as a suspect in the slaying of Ivan Perez-Garcia, 25, who was struck by gunfire while in the driver’s seat of a vehicle Monday in the 100 block of Seeser Street, according to a Joliet police news release.

Perez-Garcia was taken to AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, where he was pronounced dead. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds, the Will County Coroner’s Office said.

“My heart goes out to the family and friends of Ivan Perez-Garcia after his passing due to this senseless act of violence,” Joliet police Chief Al Roechner said in a statement. “It is my hope that bringing Mr. Rosas Jr. to justice will provide even the smallest feeling of closure to his family.”

Roechner thanked the officers and detectives who “worked tirelessly to quickly secure the arrest warrant of Mr. Rosas Jr.”

On Friday, the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office approved charges of murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon against Rosas, police said.

A judge signed a $5 million warrant for Rosas and the warrant was served on Rosas while he was in jail. Rosas’ bond stands at $6 million and he will need $600,000 for his release from jail.

Rosas was arrested after a traffic stop Tuesday in Joliet. While officers were speaking with Rosas, they saw plastic bags containing marijuana in the front seat of the vehicle and confiscated a digital scale from him, police said.

During Rosas’ court hearing Thursday afternoon, there was no explanation from prosecutors as to why his bond was set at $1 million on the possession of a weapon by a felon charge. Rosas also had a court hearing scheduled earlier that day regarding the charge, jail records show.

When asked about Rosas’ bond, Will County State’s Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Carole Cheney said a bond “generally is based on a variety of factors” and the state’s attorney’s office “cannot comment on how these factors enter into a judge’s determination in a given case.”