Attorneys for Shorewood man charged in Joliet shootings waiting on more evidence

Defense attorneys for a Shorewood man charged in a case linked to a mass shooting earlier this year in Joliet are still waiting on “enormous amount” of discovery, which includes evidence from multiple states.

On Tuesday, Jeff Tomczak, attorney for Jon Hansen, 24, requested another pretrial date from Will County Judge Jessica Colón-Sayre. Hansen is charged with the first-degree murder and attempted murder of two of nine victims of Jan. 21 mass shooting in Joliet that police officials said was committed by Romeo Nance, 23.

“There’s an enormous amount of discovery coming down the pike in this matter,” Tomczak said to Colón-Sayre.

Both parties in Hansen’s case agreed to meet again in court on Oct. 15.

After the court hearing, Tomczak said he was not yet planning on appealing Will County Judge Vincent Cornelius’ decision to keep Hansen detained in jail under the pretrial provision of the SAFE-T Act. Tomczak said he’s waiting on discovery from multiple states, which relates more to the investigation of Nance’s deadly shooting spree.

“All of the Nance discovery is absolutely relevant to Mr. Hansen’s case,” Tomczak said.

Tomczak said Hansen’s case is “the kind of case that does go to trial.”

Joliet police officials have said Nance was responsible for the fatal shooting of seven of his family members on West Acres Road, including two sisters, ages 16 and 14. They also said Nance fatally shot Toyosi Bakare, 28, a Nigerian immigrant residing in Joliet Township, and wounded Mario Guerrero, 42, in a separate shooting within city limits.

Nance fled to Texas with the apparent intent of crossing over into Mexico but he died by suicide following a confrontation with law enforcement, according to Joliet police officials.

Hansen has only been charged with the first-degree murder of Bakare and attempted first-degree murder of Guerrero. The charges against Hansen are holding him accountable for Nance’s actions toward the latter two victims.

Tomczak argued Hansen and his pregnant girlfriend were in the vehicle with Nance during those shootings and they were repeatedly trying to get out of the vehicle. Tomczak contended the two were at the mercy of Nance, whom Tomczak called a “suicidal mad man” who was “singing songs about killing people.”

On Tuesday, Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne English said their investigation of the Nance case is complete but the “motive for the shootings is still unclear.”

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

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.

The only other pending case connected to the mass shooting is an obstructing justice case filed against Nance’s girlfriend, Kyleigh Cleveland-Singleton, 22, of Joliet. She’s accused of knowingly providing false information to detectives to prevent the apprehension of Nance.

Cleveland-Singleton is expected to appear in court on Sept. 9.

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.

Hansen has several less serious cases still pending in Will County.

In one of them, Hansen is charged with June 1, 2020 attempted burglary of a Walgreens, 1801 Ingalls Ave., Joliet. The incident occurred the day after the city was overwhelmed with looting and rioting following protests of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin’s killing of George Floyd.

At least 30 people were arrested, 10 stores were looted and Valle’s Produce, a family-owned grocery store, was vandalized and set on fire on May 31, 2020.

The cases against Hansen’s alleged accomplices in the Walgreens attempted burglary, Tyler Peters, 24, of Plainfield, and Vern Sjogreen, 24, of Joliet, resulted in guilty pleas.

Peters was sentenced to probation for attempted burglary and Sjogreen was sentenced to half a year in prison for criminal damage to the store, court records show.

At the time the three men were charged, prosecutors said they allegedly devised the plan to break into the Walgreens while they were smoking marijuana and eating tacos at a Taco Bell restaurant.