New detention hearing possible in Joliet murder case after jail release setback

Despite a Will County judge on Wednesday allowing for the pretrial release of a Joliet man charged with a 2021 Halloween party mass shooting, the man remained in jail the next day.

Chuck Bretz, an attorney for 23-year-old David Grijalva, told Will County Judge Carmen Goodman that he should be informed who at the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office allegedly instructed the jail not to follow a “valid court order” to release his client.

“I’m entitled to know who that is,” Bretz said.

But Goodman decided to recuse herself from Grijalva’s case Thursday after she found out she has a Facebook connection with one of the victims. That led to Goodman tossing out her Wednesday decision to allow the release of Grijalva.

Nevertheless, Goodman told both parties in Grijalva’s case, “When a court gives an order, it must be honored.”

On Friday, Grijalva’s case was reassigned to Will County Judge Vincent Cornelius. He may decide Monday whether the $20,000 that Grijalva posted in a 2021 case should apply to a new case.

In the new case, Grijalva is charged with the Oct. 31, 2021, murder of Sergio Hernandez, 20; Holly Mathews, 22; and Jonathan Ceballos, 22.

Goodman already had decided Wednesday that Grijalva’s money bond in the 2021 case should apply to the new case. In Goodman’s court order, she said Grijalva is “ordered released on the $200,000/10% cash bond previously posted.”

Yet Grijalva still was in jail Thursday morning.

Hernandez, Mathews and Ceballos were attending a Halloween party Oct. 31, 2021, in the backyard of a Joliet Township residence when a mass shooting took place. The three were mortally wounded.

Grijalva is the fourth alleged suspect in the shooting. Joskar Ramos, 21; Thomas Lopez, 23; and Jeremy Lopez, 22, also have been charged with the first-degree murder of the victims.

Prosecutors claim that the shooting was the result of a gang-related feud between Grijalva and Hernandez.

“[Grijalva], along with three others, fired multiple shots into a crowd of approximately 150 to 200 people with abandon,” prosecutors said in a court filing.

Before Goodman decided to recuse herself from Grijalva’s case Thursday, prosecutors were set to argue that she should suspend her court order releasing Grijalva from jail. They claimed in a court filing that she violated the requirements of the SAFE-T Act when she allowed for Grijalva’s release.

Before Thursday’s court hearing, Bretz told Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Mark Shlifka, the prosecutor on Grijalva’s case, that Goodman’s court order should be followed “whether you like it or not.”

Bretz asked who from the state’s attorney’s office contacted the jail and told them not to follow the court order. He turned his question to Peter Wilkes, criminal division chief for the state’s attorney’s office, who was in the courtroom gallery.

“Pete, you called the jail?” Bretz said.

“You want to put me on the stand, Chuck? Put me on the stand,” Wilkes said.

During Thursday’s court hearing, Goodman said she strongly believed that Shlifka was not the one who told the jail not to release Grijalva.

Before Goodman wrapped up the hearing, she said, “This is an unusual situation.”

Bretz once again on Monday will seek to consolidate two cases filed against Grijalva, which largely derive from the same incident.

The first case was filed in 2021. Grijalva was charged with the attempted murder of a man who fled the Halloween party after the mass shooting. On Nov. 16, 2022, Grijalva was released from jail in that case after his brother from Chicago posted his $20,000 bond.

The second case was filed Sept. 27. Grijalva was charged with the murder of Hernandez, Mathews and Ceballos. Several days later, prosecutors petitioned to detain Grijalva, and Bretz filed his motion to consolidate the two cases.

Goodman did not make a ruling Wednesday on the petition to detain. Instead, Goodman granted Bretz’s motion to consolidate.

In court filings, Bretz claimed that prosecutors filed the newest murder charges in a separate case to “trample on [Grijalva’s] constitutional rights, and this course of action should not be allowed to continue.”

Bretz argued that Grijalva has not violated the conditions of his bond in his 2021 case. Bretz said Grijalva has proven he’s neither a flight risk nor a danger to others.

Shlifka filed a motion that said prosecutors take no issue with Grijalva’s request to consolidate the 2021 and 2024 cases “for purposes of a trial.” But Shlifka said Grijalva’s request to have the $20,000 bond in the 2021 case applied to the newer case is “inappropriate and not recognized in law.”