Girlfriend of Joliet mass shooting suspect charged with giving false information to police

The girlfriend of a Joliet man suspected of a mass shooting earlier this week was charged with providing false information to police by claiming she did not know his phone number.

Kyleigh Cleveland-Singleton, 21, of Plainfield, made her first court appearance on Thursday in front of Will County Judge Dave Carlson after she was taken to jail on a felony charge of obstructing justice. She was in jail since at least 8:09 p.m. on Wednesday.

Cleveland-Singleton had a sullen expression on her face and walked slowly to the podium inside Carlson’s courtroom when the hearing began.

The charge alleged Cleveland-Singleton, with intent to prevent the apprehension of mass shooting suspect Romeo Nance, 23, of Joliet, from being apprehended on a charge of first-degree murder, had furnished false information to the Joliet Police Department.

The charge alleged the false information was that Cleveland-Singleton “did not know the phone number of Romeo Nance.” The offense allegedly occurred on Monday.

Cleveland-Singleton’s defense attorney, Julie Primozic, told Carlson that her client will plead not guilty to the charge.

Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Tricia McKenna told Carlson that prosecutors are not seeking to keep Cleveland-Singleton detained in jail as she is not charged with an offense that would allow a judge to keep her there.

Carlson told Cleveland-Singleton that thanks to the SAFE-T Act, prosecutors can’t detain her and he can’t hold her in jail. He told her she would be placed on electronic monitoring and she is barred from possessing any firearms.

Carlson ordered Cleveland-Singleton to remain at her residence after her release.

“You are not to leave unless the court allows it,” he said.

Cleveland-Singleton is due back in court on Feb. 8 for either an arraignment or a preliminary hearing, the latter of which is held to determine if she committed the alleged offense. It is possible a grand jury may file an indictment before then.

Police consider Nance the suspect involved in the fatal shooting of seven of his family members in two separate homes in the 2200 block of West Acres Road. Those victims include Nance’s mother, Tameka Nance, 47, and his sisters Alexandria Nance, 20, and two teens, ages 16 and 14.

Another victim killed was Romeo Nance’s brother, Joshua Nance, 31. Court records show Tameka Nance, a registered nurse, was appointed as a guardian of Joshua Nance after he became disabled from a brain injury.

Other victims killed were Romeo Nance’s aunt, Christine Esters, 38, and his uncle, William Esters II, 35.

Police also consider Romeo Nance the suspect in two random shootings, one of which led to the death of Toyosi Bakare, 28, formerly of Nigeria. The ninth victim in the incident is a 42-year-old man who suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.

Romeo Nance fled the area following the mass shooting and made his way to Texas, where he shot himself and died following a brief confrontation with law enforcement at a gas station in Natalia, police said.

Cleveland-Singleton is the mother of Romeo Nance’s child, Joliet Police Sgt. Dwayne English said.

On Jan. 26, 2023, Romeo Nance was taken to jail on a charge of aggravated discharge of a firearm and other offenses in connection with an unrelated Jan. 3, 2023 shooting that his attorneys claimed was a “road rage incident.”

Romeo Nance was jailed on a $100,000 bond and he needed to post 10% of that amount for his release from jail. Court records show the bail bond deposit for the $10,000 needed for his release was signed by Kyleigh Cleveland-Singleton, who identified herself as a sister of Nance. He was released from jail on March 10, 2023.

The mass shooting incident prompted U.S. President Joe Biden to condemn the country’s “gun violence epidemic.”

“This tragedy underscores why I am doing everything in my power to keep guns off our streets and out of the hands of those who seek to harm themselves or others,” Biden said. “It’s why my administration is strengthening the gun background check system and cracking down on gun trafficking through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.”