Joliet's 'Suicidal Madman Had Just Murdered His Family': Tomczak

JOLIET— Joliet criminal defense attorney Jeff Tomczak argued on Tuesday morning that his newest first-degree murder defendant, Shorewood resident and Milwaukee King gang member Jon Hansen, had no idea that Hansen's long-time friend, Romeo Nance, was planning to murder Nance's own family in Joliet on Sunday, Jan 21.

Tomczak also argued that his new client did not order Nance to shoot anyone else later that same day. However, Hansen, along with Hansen's pregnant girlfriend, were riding around with Nance, inside Nance's murdered aunt's red Toyota Camry, when they pulled up to a Joliet house on Davis Street and shot Mario Guerrero, a 28-year-old Hispanic man who was unloading his groceries and did not speak English.

"Judge, he wouldn't take him home because he didn't want to die alone," Tomczak said of Romeo Nance. "Romeo was saying his life was over. Romeo said he wanted him and Jon to both die in a police shootout. He didn't want to die alone."

From there, Nance drove over to the nearby Pheasant Run Apartment buildings off South Chicago Street in Preston Heights for another random shooting, this time ending the life of Toyosi Bakare, a 28-year-old man from Africa who came to Joliet just a few years ago.

Both shooting victims, Will County prosecutor Christine Vukmir reminded Judge Cornelius, were chosen by both Hansen and Nance in complete random fashion.

Both shooting victims had no gang ties, no gang affiliations whatsoever, Vukmir insisted.

"He is a danger to the community," Vukmir said of Hansen.

Vukmir argued that Hansen bears responsibility for both of the late afternoon Jan. 21 random shootings, and that's why the 24-year-old Shorewood man is now being charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder even though prosecutors contend that Romeo Nance, not Hansen, was the actual shooter.

Nance took his own life after fleeing Joliet in the Red Toyota Camry, driving all the way to Texas, hoping to reach Mexico, according to prosecutors. In total, Nance murdered seven Joliet family members and the Pheasant Run building tenant, and committed the non-fatal shooting of the Hispanic man who was shot in the leg while unloading his groceries, prosecutors said.

As for Hansen, he contacted Nance that same Sunday morning, hours before Nance killed his family. Hansen told Nance that Hansen wanted to shoot up some Vice Lords; Hansen also went to the 7-Eleven to purchase gloves for them to wear during the subsequent two shootings on Joliet's east side, Vukmir revealed.

Later, Hansen asked Romeo Nance for permission to hold one of the guns Romeo Nance used in the shootings, and one of Nance's guns was tossed into the shallow DuPage River in Shorewood near the 7-Eleven, and Hansen was the person who disposed of that gun, Vukmir explained.

As for Tomczak, he urged Judge Cornelius to allow his client's release from the Will County Jail under the SAFE-T-Act. Hansen lives in the 300 block of Shorewood's Ravinia Drive. He was booked into the jail on May 31.

Tomczak maintained that both Hansen and Hansen's pregnant girlfriend were essentially being held captive by "a suicidal madman that had just murdered his family. He's singing songs about killing people," Tomczak said of Romeo Nance.

According to Tomczak, his client's only thought was to find a way for him and his pregnant girlfriend to survive, back on the afternoon of Jan. 21.

Hansen's girlfriend "and Jon spent 30 minutes with this suicidal, murderous madman. Jon and (her) were begging to get away from that guy. What would anyone do under the circumstances, your honor?

"He's shooting random people," Tomczak said of Romeo Nance. "There's no jumping out of the car. There is no evidence (Jon Hansen) shot, encouraged, embedded or assisted. I know in a murder case, it's tough, but this is unique. Please, deny the motion, your honor."

Before ruling in favor of the Will County State's Attorney's Office to deny Hansen's pretrial release, Judge Cornelius asked the lawyers a question.

The judge wanted to know exactly when Hansen went to the 7-Eleven in Shorewood to purchase gloves for himself and Romeo Nance.

Vukmir revealed that the gloves were bought by Hansen prior to the shooting of the Hispanic man on Davis Street and prior to the killing of Bakare outside the Pheasant Run apartments.

"He's clearly made up his mind he's intending to commit crimes against Vice Lords," Vukmir reminded the judge. The fact that Hansen and Nance chose to shoot two random people in Joliet makes the crimes even more troubling and dangerous for the community at large, she noted.

Judge Cornelius also pointed out that Hansen and Nance chose to wear black masks to conceal their faces at the time of the two random shootings. Both shootings had gang undertones and Hansen did in fact buy the gloves, the judge noted as key reasons he was denying Tomczak's motion for pretrial release for Hansen.