Prosecution rests in Joliet Outlaws murder case

The prosecution rested in the trial of a Joliet Outlaw charged with the 2017 fatal shooting of a 24-year-old woman.

On Monday, forensic scientist Lisa Ramos was the last witness called in the state’s case against Jeremy Boshears, 36, of Coal City, who was charged with murdering Katie Kearns and covering up her death.

Ramos testified to the jury that her DNA analysis of the bullet recovered from the Joliet Outlaws’ clubhouse could not exclude the presence of Kearns’ DNA. Kearns died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Ramos said her analysis of the bullet did exclude Boshears’ DNA.

Deputies found the bullet in a hole in the Joliet Outlaws’ clubhouse ceiling that had been concealed by a smoke detector. Jurors viewed video of Boshears and Outlaws prospect Colby O’Neal at the New Lenox Walmart, where he bought a smoke detector following Kearns’ Nov. 12, 2017, disappearance.

Since the trial began April 14, prosecutors have not presented any eyewitnesses to Kearns’ death or any direct evidence that Boshears pulled the trigger.

O’Neal testified Boshears contacted him to go to the clubhouse on Nov. 13, 2017, where O’Neal saw “something on the floor” but didn’t specify what it was. Under cross examination by Boshears’ attorney Chuck Bretz, O’Neal acknowledged he knew he helped cover up a death.

A St. Anne couple said Boshears showed up at their house with a Jeep they helped store in a barn. Kearns’ body was later found inside the Jeep, wrapped in a tarp and mattress.

Bretz called several medical professionals to the stand to testify about Kearns’ mental health. Bretz told jurors in opening statements that Kearns died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Kearns did not report experiencing suicidal ideation or thoughts to the medical professionals who testified. Jurors learned that Kearns had been given medication for chronic back pain and anxiety from 2015 to 2017.

Nurse Paula Graser said she treated Kearns for self-inflicted cuts to her left forearm in 2017 at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. Kearns reported she cut herself as a coping mechanism and the cuts did not require sutures, she said.

Psychiatrist Lee Weiss said he treated Kearns for anxiety disorder, panic disorder, bipolar disorder and unresolved grief over her mother’s death.

When Bretz asked Weiss if the consumption of alcohol and Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, could impair judgement, Weiss said, “It could.”

Kearns’ toxicology report showed Xanax, alcohol and cocaine in her system.

Bretz asked Weiss if consuming those substances together could make someone do something they normally wouldn’t do,

“That’s a possibility,” Weiss said.