Joliet Murder Defendant Threw His Clothes Into Lake Michigan: JPD

JOLIET — Several people were inside a house on Joliet's east side the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 5 when 42-year-old Everett Cole suffered multiple gunshot wounds before collapsing and dying in the front entrance of 830 Wenberg St. near the foyer, prosecutors said.

Details on how the Joliet Police Department solved the homicide were outlined in court documents filed Tuesday at the Will County Courthouse. Prosecutor Tricia McKenna submitted her petition to deny pretrial release for the first-degree murder defendant, 21-year-old Chicago resident Kendrick Pullen.

Pullen's pretrial detention hearing will take place Thursday in Courtroom 405. Pullen is being represented by lawyers Jerry King and Marisa Bondi of downtown Joliet's law firm King & Bondi.

McKenna's petition asking Will County judges to keep Pullen in the Will County Jail as he awaits his trial states that at 3:49 p.m. Oct. 5, Joliet police responded to shots fired and found Cole face up in the front entrance of the house on Wenberg Street.

Cole had one gunshot to his chest and another to his stomach, according to prosecutors, and was not conscious or breathing. The Joliet Fire Department ambulance rushed Cole to Silver Cross Hospital, where he died.

A witness told Joliet police he heard four to five gunshots coming from the house and saw a white man enter the driver's seat of a gray Kia Forte. Another told officers they saw four people run from the house and try to get into the gray Kia.

However, everyone abandoned the car and ran southbound along Cass Street because the car did not start, that witness surmised, according to the petition.

Joliet police detectives also interviewed the victim's father, 65-year-old father, Everett T. Cole Sr.

He told them he was at his son Everett Cole Jr.'s house on Pine Street, and his son agreed to drive him to the John F. Kennedy apartment building near St. Joe's hospital. As the Coles rode together in the victim's black Ford Fusion, Everette Cole began driving his father toward Cass Street, on the east side.

"Everett Sr. did not know why his son was driving them to this area but did hear him state he was going to 830 Wenberg Street," prosecutors outlined. "Everett Jr. stated that he was coming there and that he was 'gonna have a gun.'"

About five minutes prior to his murder, Everett Cole told his father he was "gonna have to knock this (woman) out," prosecutors said. Everett Cole Sr. believed his son was referring to a woman who owed him money, according to the petition.

Everett Cole Jr. parked in front of another house and walked toward 830 Wenberg while his 65-year-old father stayed behind. "Everett Jr. was gone for approximately three minutes when Everett Sr. heard several gunshots," prosecutors noted.

Joliet police found blood on the front porch steps of 830 Wenberg and four shell casings were recovered by police. According to prosecutors, a witness told Joliet police they saw a young white woman exit the basement door as she was approached by a black man who punched her in the head. "What's this for?" the woman asked her attacker.

Three minutes later, a witness heard the gunshots that ended Everett Cole's life and saw four men exit the back door at 830 Wenberg Street and run south through the yards, the petition says.

"Two female witnesses were present on scene who appeared to be highly under the influence," McKenna outlined.

Another witness told police he was at 830 Wenberg St. during the shooting, according to prosecutors. The witness said he went there to purchase drugs, and he spoke with murder defendant Pullen, who is known as "P."

Pullen showed the witness a black 9mm handgun with a 30-round extended magazine with a brown grip, according to prosecutors. This witness provided Joliet police with Pullen's phone number. According to the witness, Cole stopped by the house and slapped a woman on the side of her head. The witness saw Pullen and Cole at the front porch and "flashes coming from the area of the defendant and heard several gunshots," the petition outlines.

Another eyewitness told Joliet police "he was at the residence trying to get high when Everett came in, kicked the female's date out, and came upstairs. Everett came into the kitchen and told everyone else they had to get out. (Pullen) yelled, 'Move, move,' and shot him four or five times," according to prosecutors.

That particular witness later led Joliet police to the murder weapon Pullen had left inside his car, a black Glock with a brown extended magazine and a live 9mm round in the chamber, the petition notes.

Four days after the slaying, on Oct. 9, Joliet police took Pullen into custody.

"After telling detectives several inconsistent accounts, Pullen eventually stated that he was at the residence of 830 Wenberg Street on October 5, 2024 when he heard shouting outside. Pullen stated that the female told Pullen that ... "TY" (street name for Everett Cole) was "beating on her," court documents indicate. Pullen went downstairs, and TY bumped into Pullen on the way in. After TY walked upstairs, Pullen followed him and TY started telling everyone to get out of the house.

"TY reached towards his right hip, Pullen pushed TY and BJ out of the way and grabbed a gun near the chimney area and shot TY three to four times," McKenna noted. "Pullen said the gun he used was not his and it was more of a house gun to keep the house safe."

When the Kia parked in the alley would not start, Pullen left the gun on the front passenger seat; he and the woman left the property, driving a gray Volvo, prosecutors said.

"Pullen stated that he drove to Chicago, where he stopped at the 63rd Street Beach and threw the clothes he was wearing in Lake Michigan and put on new clothes which were already in the gray Volvo," prosecutors stated.

As for Pullen, he received first offender gun probation for a crime out of Cook County. "He lives in Chicago and does not have any property interest in 830 Wenberg, Joliet, Illinois," McKenna declared. "There are no less restrictive means which would insure the defendant would comply with the laws, as even being on probation for a firearms offense has not prevented him from continuing to break the law."