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Updated: Slain Joliet man is among 4 Faint family members killed since 2011

By Felix Sarver
Street sign marks the corner of Henderson Avenue and Columbia Street in Joliet where a man died Sunday afternoon when he was shot while driving. Oct. 31, 2022.

Street sign marks the corner of Henderson Avenue and Columbia Street in Joliet where a man died Sunday afternoon when he was shot while driving. Oct. 31, 2022.

Another member of the Faint family has been shot and killed in Joliet.

On Wednesday, Jeffrey Faint Jr., 27, of Joliet was identified by the Will County Coroner’s Office as the man who was killed in a shooting on Sunday in the area of Henderson Avenue and Columbia Street. Four houses were struck by bullets in that incident.

He suffered the same fate as his father, Jeffrey Faint Sr., 38, who was shot and killed in 2011 in Joliet.

Jeffrey Faint Jr. is the nephew of Floyd Faint Sr., 47, and cousin of Floyd Faint Jr., 29, Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne English said. Those two men were killed in separate shootings in the past three years.

The body of Floyd Faint Jr. was found July 20, 2019, with gunshot wounds at the I&M Canal path in Rockdale. On April 28, 2020, Floyd Faint Sr. was gunned down on Francis Street near Henderson Avenue.

The Joliet police investigation into the deaths of Jeffrey Faint Sr. and Floyd Faint Sr. remain open. The Illinois State Police investigation of the death of Floyd Faint Jr. also remains open.

Desmond Park at the corner of Columbia Street and Henderson Avenue in Joliet was the place where a man's car crashed after he was hit by gunfire on Sunday afternoon. Oct. 31, 2022.

Desmond Park at the corner of Columbia Street and Henderson Avenue in Joliet was the place where a man's car crashed after he was hit by gunfire on Sunday afternoon. Oct. 31, 2022.

English said the search warrants executed Tuesday on Francis Street and Norton Avenue were both related to the homicide investigation of Jeffrey Faint Jr.

Sator Sanchez Elementary School was briefly placed on soft lockdown because of the Francis Street search warrant, which took place about half a mile away from the school.

As of Thursday morning, English said no arrests have been made over the homicide of Jeffrey Faint Jr. He said detectives continue to work to identify suspect or suspects and a motive in this case.

Deamontae Hunter, 25, of Lockport was once wanted by Illinois State Police for questioning regarding the 2019 slaying of Floyd Faint Jr.

On June 28, 2020, Hunter was arrested in Shorewood on unrelated charges of unlawful possession of weapons by a felon.

Deamontae Hunter

Deamontae Hunter (Illinois Department of Corrections)

On Nov. 16, 2021, Hunter pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing an AK-47 rifle after he previously was convicted of a felony in a 2017 case.

Judge Carmen Goodman sentenced Hunter to serve 50% of a 7-year prison sentence and credited him with 506 days already served in jail.

In 2020, Hunter was suspected of hiding from authorities in Iowa, while he was subject to an Illinois felony murder arrest warrant, according to court records from Carroll County, Iowa. Illinois State Police provided no information about that warrant at the time and no murder charges were ever filed against Hunter in Will County.

When asked about any arrests made over the homicide of Floyd Faint Jr. and if Hunter is considered a suspect in his death, Illinois State Police Trooper Genelle Jones said only that the investigation is still ongoing.

“No further information is available at this time,” Jones said. “When the investigation is completed, it will be sent to the State’s Attorney’s office for review.”

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