Police confirm ID of Joliet shooting victim in city’s east side

Police have confirmed the identity of a 20-year-old man who was killed in an unsolved shooting June 6 on Joliet’s East Side.

Latrel Dontae Smith-Vaden suffered a gunshot wound to the head that day in the 600 block of East Benton Street, Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne English said. As of Thursday, no arrests have been made in the shooting, which remains under an investigation.

The Will County Coroner’s Office has still not identified Smith-Vaden as the shooting victim.

Smith-Vaden’s funeral service has been scheduled for Saturday, according to his obituary. His obituary noted that he is the fifth of 10 children in his family and he was christened and baptized at Mt. Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago.

Smith-Vaden attended Troy Middle School in Plainfield and Joliet West High School, where he graduated in 2020, according to his obituary.

“Latrel loved automobiles. He was always curious about how they worked and how he could fix them. He went on to take AutoTech classes at Joliet West High School. NASCAR was his favorite,” his obituary said.

Smith-Vaden was scheduled to begin his employment at Walmart in Joliet just a day after he died.

After he was shot, officers on-scene provided medical assistance until paramedics arrived and Smith-Vaden was taken to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, police said. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Anyone with information on the shooting should call the police department’s investigation unit at 815-724-3020.

If they wish to remain anonymous, they can contact Crime Stoppers of Will County at 800-323-6734 or online at crimestoppersofwillcounty.org.