Ex-Joliet Outlaws member’s pretrial detention in murder case upheld by appellate court

An appellate court upheld the pretrial detention of a former Joliet Outlaws motorcycle club member who for a second time is facing charges of killing a woman and hiding her body.

The 3rd District Appellate Court in Ottawa issued a ruling on Wednesday in the case against Jeremy Boshears, 39, of Coal City, who’s charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death.

The ruling was delivered by Appellate Court Justice Lance Peterson. Justices Liam Brennan and William Holdridge concurred with the ruling.

In 2022, a jury found Boshears guilty of killing Katie Kearns, 24, in 2017 at the Outlaws clubhouse in Joliet Township. Boshears was married but having an affair with Kearns. Prosecutors contend Boshears killed Kearns in a jealous rage.

The jury further found Boshears guilty of hiding Kearns’ body inside of a barn in Kankakee County.

Despite the jury’s verdict, retired Will County Judge Dave Carlson granted Boshears a new trial based on the “cumulative effect” of trial errors.

Carlson also allowed the jail release of Boshears in a decision where he criticized the SAFE-T Act.

Although Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow has also opposed the SAFE-T Act, his prosecutors had to enforce the requirements of the law to keep Boshears in jail.

The appellate court rejected arguments that Carlson was in a “better position” to rule on prosecutors' request to detain Boshears because he presided over the 2022 trial.

Carlson “failed to make the adequate findings” required by the SAFE-T Act and he then “retired from the bench,” according to Peterson.

The only option was for a new hearing on prosecutors' petition to keep Boshears in jail, Peterson’s ruling said.

That hearing was held by Will County Judge Jessica Colón-Sayre, who decided Boshears must stay detained as he awaits his second trial.

Peterson said Colón-Sayre considered “the entire record” in Boshears' case, not just the “factual basis” provided by prosecutors in their argument to detain Boshears, which was “far more than what most judges consider in initial detention hearings.”

“We fail to see what more could be done under the facts and circumstances of the case,” Peterson said.

The appellate court found Colón-Sayre did not abuse her discretion by finding Boshears' pretrial release posed a danger to other people.

While Boshears has no criminal history, his dangerousness was evident from the “nature and circumstances of the offenses,” his access to weapons and his first murder conviction, the appellate court noted.

Boshears is expected to appear in court on Jan. 30 at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet for a status hearing in his murder case.