Going Home: Joliet Outlaw, Murder Defendant Can Leave Will Co. Jail

JOLIET, IL — In one of his final rulings ever, outgoing Will County Judge Dave Carlson convened Courtroom 405 at 11 a.m. on Monday to announce his decision on the pretrial release for 38-year-old former Coal City resident Jeremy Boshears.

In the end, Judge Carlson announced he was ruling in favor of Boshears in his request for pretrial release under the new SAFE-T-Act. However, the judge delayed his decision from taking effect until Monday, May 20. That way, the Will County State's Attorney Office and Jim Glasgow can appeal his ruling to an appellate court. If the prosecution does not appeal, or loses the appeal, Boshears can walk out of the Will County Jail for the first time since November 2017, on May 20, which is three weeks from today.

In May 2022, a jury of Will County citizens unanimously agreed that Boshears was guilty of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide in the November 2017 death of 24-year-old Katie Kearns.

Kearns served alcoholic beverages at Woody's Bar on Joliet's old industrial east side near the Canadian National rail yard. The bar along Washington Street is just down the road from the Joliet Outlaws Clubhouse, where Boshears often liked to spend his free time in 2017.

After she finished tending bar, Kearns made the short drive to the Joliet Outlaws clubhouse. Inside, she and Boshears were joined by one of the club's probate members, Colby O'Neal. After O'Neal left to drive home to Seneca, Kearns and Boshears remained all alone. Then, a gunshot rang out. Kearns fell to the floor. She was dead.

In January of this year, Carlson overturned the first-degree murder conviction for Boshears and ordered a new trial. However, this marks Carlson's final week on the Will County Courthouse bench as a judge; he is returning to private practice to resume his career as a lawyer.

Will County Judge Jessica Colon-Sayre will now oversee the proceedings and the eventual second murder defendant for Boshears whenever that takes place, according to Carlson. No date has been set on the court docket for the second murder trial.