Pretrial release denied for man charged with shooting at Juneteenth celebration

Pretrial release was denied Oct. 6 for an Aurora man accused of firing a handgun at a Juneteenth celebration in unincorporated Dupage County near Willowbrook.

Anthony Mothershed, 19, of the 3500 block of Willowview Court, appeared in DuPage County First Appearance Court, charged with one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm – direction of another person and one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release.

About 12:24 a.m. June 18, DuPage County Sheriff’s deputies were alerted to gunshots fired at a Juneteenth celebration in a strip mall parking lot near Kingery Highway and Honeysuckle Rose Lane in an unincorporated area near Willowbrook. Upon their arrival, deputies learned 31-year-old Reginald Meadows of Willowbrook had been shot and killed and multiple individuals had been shot, according to the release.

After an investigation, it is alleged that while attending the Juneteenth celebration, Mothershed was with a group of individuals standing outside the Legacy Beauty Supply when he began shooting a Kahr Arms CW45 .45-caliber pistol in the direction of others at the celebration. After the shooting, Mothershed allegedly fled the scene. Sheriff’s deputies arrested Mothershed on Oct. 4, according to the release.

“The violent conduct alleged against Mr. Mothershed is outrageous and will not be tolerated in DuPage County,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. “A gathering of hundreds of people is no place for illegal guns, and my office stands ready to file the appropriate charges supported by evidence against anyone accused of behavior such as alleged in this case.”

“I would like to commend the detectives of the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office for tirelessly working on this case since its inception,” DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick said in the release. “These investigators have put in thousands of hours of work to reach this outcome. We will vigorously continue our investigation to hold anyone involved in this incident accountable.”

An investigation into the matter continues. Anyone with information is asked to call the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office at 630-407-2400.

Mothershed’s next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 23 for arraignment.