Shorewood man at the mercy of ‘suicidal mad man’ who killed Joliet family: defense attorney

A Shorewood man and his pregnant girlfriend were at the mercy of a “suicidal mad man” who had killed seven of his family members and randomly shot two other people, according to a defense attorney.

That claim was put forth by defense attorney Jeff Tomczak on Tuesday during the pretrial release hearing of Jon Hansen, 24, who’s been charged with the first-degree murder of Toyosi Bakare, 28, and the attempted murder of Mario Guerrero.

Bakare and Guerrero were shot by Romeo Nance, 23, of Joliet, according to law enforcement. Authorities said Nance was also responsible for killing seven members of his family on Jan. 21. Following the mass shooting, Nance ended his own life in Texas after a confrontation with law enforcement.

The charges against Hansen are holding him accountable for Nance’s fatal shooting of Bakare and non-fatal shooting of Guerrero, Will County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Dan Jungles said.

Prosecutors alleged Hansen and his girlfriend were inside of a vehicle with Nance on the day of the shooting spree and Hansen’s girlfriend thought “they were going to drive around and smoke and drink,” according to court records.

However, Tomczak contends there is no evidence that Hansen shot Bakare and Guerrero himself or even encouraged those shootings. He argued a defendant’s “mere presence” is not enough to support they are accountable for another person’s crime.

Tomczak argued Hansen and his pregnant girlfriend were in the vehicle with Nance during those shootings and were repeatedly trying to get out of the vehicle. He said Hansen was cooperating with Nance in order to survive.

Tomczak said Hansen was in a vehicle with a “suicidal mad man” who had just killed his family.

“What would anyone do under those circumstances, your honor?” Tomczak asked.

Tomczak said Nance was “singing songs about killing people.”

Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Christine Vukmir argued Hansen had opportunities to escape Nance and the state evidence would show he intended to commit crimes against rival gang members on the day of the murders.

“He is a danger to the community,” Vukmir said.

One of the pieces of evidence obtained by police included messages where Hansen allegedly tells his girlfriend that Nance was “grabbing him” to go “torch [expletive],” according to prosecutors.

Will County Judge Vincent Cornelius ruled to keep Hansen locked up in jail. He based his ruling on allegations regarding the random shootings of Bakare and Guerrero, as well as the “gang undertones” of the case against Hansen.

The case against Hansen marks the second one filed by Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow in response to the mass shooting that killed eight people and left one man wounded.

The other case involves a charge of obstructing justice filed against Nance’s girlfriend, Kyleigh Cleveland-Singleton, 21, of Joliet. She’s accused of knowingly providing false information to Joliet police detectives to prevent the apprehension of Nance.

Cleveland-Singleton’s attorney, Chuck Bretz, said she had no idea Nance’s mass shooting would occur and she is a “victim herself of the senseless violence that took place.”

Joliet police reports alleged Cleveland-Singleton was with Nance at the time he killed his family on West Acres Road and kept in contact with him, even after he obtained a new cellphone before he attempted to flee to Mexico.

The last call from Cleveland-Singleton’s phone to Nance’s phone was a roughly 18-minute call on the morning of Jan. 22, when Nance was traveling south on Interstate 30 and entering Texas, according to police reports.