‘I couldn’t breathe’: Joliet West alumna describes attack at Quincy nightclub, lawyer alleges hate crime

Nineteen-year-old Jazzpher Evans said she is scarred from what she described as “one of the scariest moments” of her life after a Quincy nightclub owner allegedly attacked her.

Her family’s lawyer is calling the attack a hate crime.

Her parents also are questioning whether Evans should return to Quincy University, where the basketball standout from Joliet West High School has an athletic scholarship.

With marks from the injuries she suffered still visible on her face, Evans; her parents, Marvin and Shavon Evans of Shorewood; and their attorney, Keenan Saulter, held a news conference Thursday in Joliet and recounted the incident that happened at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

Evans, who is Black, said she was at a Quincy nightclub called The Barn with a friend. They went to the DJ stand because they weren’t “really feeling the music,” she said. “We were just standing around enjoying ourselves.”

Then, a large man, who her lawyer has said was the owner of The Barn, allegedly shoved her against a wall.

“I put my hand up to defend myself, and that’s when he began screaming at me,” Evans said. “He told me to get the F out of the place.”

She said the man spat on her and that when she raised a hand to shield herself, he grabbed her and threw her to the ground.

Her attorney said the owner is about 6-foot-5 and weighs about 250 pounds, while Evans stands about a foot shorter and weighs about 125 pounds.

Evans said the man wrapped his arm around her neck, causing her to lose consciousness.

“I started to pass out,” she said. “I couldn’t breathe, and my friend begged him to put me down. He expressed that he didn’t care and that he was going to get me out of there no matter what.”

Evans said she remembered later regaining consciousness as she was lying on the ground outside of The Barn. She said she saw two police officers nearby and went to them to relay what happened.

The officers told her to calm down and began screaming at her, Evans said.

“At that moment, I didn’t know how to be calm because of what just happened to me,” she said.

Evans said she ended up leaving with her friend because she didn’t feel safe. She said she spent the night crying with her friend.

Evans said her head and neck still hurt and that she has trouble sleeping.

“I’m struggling to handle all this right now,” she said.

Evans’ parents said numerous people have reached out to them describing previous instances involving the club owner.

Saulter said that in the two days he has been working on the case, a dozen women have contacted him to tell of assaults involving the club owner.

Quincy Police Chief Robert Copley told the Herald-News that police been called to The Barn in the past for disturbances. He said police have heard “rumors” about the owner going “overboard” in handling patrons in the past but that none of the reported incidents have risen to a criminal level.

Attempts to reach the The Barn and its owner Thursday were unsuccessful.

Copley said police are reviewing video and interviewing witnesses as they investigate the incident.

Attempts to reach the The Barn and its owner on Thursday were unsuccessful.

Saulter said he was concerned about whether there was any video evidence of the incident. He said there were security cameras at the club, but he has not seen any video.

Saulter called the incident a hate crime, adding that at the time, Evans was with a friend who is white and they were “standing together, doing the exact same things.”

“Why did he choose Jazz?” Saulter asked.

The family said Quincy University has been supportive of Evans and is allowing her to finish the semester at home in Shorewood. But Saulter said she doesn’t want to go back to Quincy.

“There’s no way in the world that I’m going to send my daughter back to an environment where she’s been attacked when she’s been targeted,” Marvin Evans said.

Quincy University President Brian McGee said in a statement Wednesday that the school will “do everything we can to make certain this assault is fully investigated.”

Saulter said a full athletic scholarship at Quincy, where Evans is studying biochemistry, is at risk.

“Those are additional losses that she has,” Saulter said, “and her and her family have to figure out how do they rebuild.”