'Mastermind' Of Joliet Murder Vows To End 'Modern-Day Slavery' At His Prison Sentencing

JOLIET, IL — In one of the most unusual and drawn-out Will County murder sentencings in quite some time, 26-year-old Joshua Anderson served as his own lawyer Tuesday, referring to himself as "the defendant." Eventually, Anderson panned the courtroom gallery, and one at a time, he called on his mother, two sisters and his twin brother to address Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak.

As he sat in the back row of Courtroom 405, Anderson's twin brother shook his head no and refused to testify on the convicted murderer's behalf.

Prior to the early-afternoon sentencing, Anderson spent most of the morning reading excerpts from his 2024 murder jury trial transcripts in hopes of convincing Judge Bertani to overturn his convictions of first-degree murder, armed robbery and robbery for the April 2019 killing of Crest Hill resident Gregory Brown in the parking lot of the Joliet Denny's Restaurant on Plainfield Road.

Brown was lured to the Denny's restaurant under the premise of sex.

Anderson's girlfriend at the time, Bobbi Jo Ollom, agreed to meet up with Brown and share a meal with him inside the Denny's. Meanwhile, Anderson and his cousin Christopher Parker hid in the backseat of their getaway vehicle armed with loaded guns.

Once Brown and Ollom finished their meal, they returned to the car. As Brown got into the front seat, the 36-year-old Crest Hill man was fatally shot in the head — executed within 3 seconds of entering the vehicle, prosecutor Christine Vukmir reminded the judge.

Then, Anderson and Parker picked Brown's pockets, stealing his wad of cash, before pushing his body into the wet, gravel parking lot, leaving him dead on the parking lot pavement while it rained, Vukmir pointed out.

"This is the one who plotted it out for weeks at a time. He's the one who mastermind it," Vukmir said of Anderson, "It was his idea to pick off an individual who had money."

Anderson and Parker laughed together as they sped away from the murder scene and sang songs about a "cracked cranium," according to Vukmir.

Before the judge announced her 56-year prison sentence, the Chicago native gave a long statement.

"I know I will be home soon," Anderson predicted. "That's that."

Anderson went on to say, "My heart does go out to the victim's family ... I'm not admitting to anything ... a lot of black folks out there are killing each other. One kills the other and the system kills you."

This week marked six full years for Anderson inside the Will County Jail. He was 20 years old when he was booked into the jail by the Joliet police detectives on May 22, 2019.

"I believe that the world is very evil right now," Anderson declared. "I feel like the system mostly targets black folks .... I identify being with the ghetto .... The system is an extension and the situation I was in made me a better person than I was, and I have become a person very angry with the system."

In regard to America's mass incarceration system, "I feel like the system is an extension of modern slavery. I can only play the hand I was dealt," Anderson said. "I would identify with the struggle and I would identify it with the ghetto."

Knowing he was on the brink of being sentenced to a long period of incarceration, Anderson told the courtroom how he believes his purpose may be "to take down the system" and his new calling in life may be "to focus on people who really need help."

At one point, Anderson stopped himself from talking, as he tried to ask Judge Bertani if she was a religious person. The judge did not answer him.

"I believe this is like my calling. I may be Joshua in the Bible reincarnated," Anderson remarked.

According to one historical website, "Joshua in the Bible began life in Egypt as a slave, under cruel Egyptian taskmasters, but he rose to become one of the greatest leaders of Israel through faithful obedience to God. As successor to Moses, Joshua led the people of Israel into the Promised Land of Canaan."

Before Anderson gave his remarks for his sentencing, he announced to the courtroom, "I would like to call my mother to speak your mind."

Anderson's mother implored the judge not to give her son a maximum prison term. She insisted that the judge show her son mercy.

"I know he wasn't thinking right," Angela Anderson said of her son. "Deep down, I know he was there. We think he's guilty of some of the things, but he isn't guilty of everything."

Anderson's mother told the judge, "my son, he's a good son. He's a person that made a bad choice. I'm just asking for mercy. He made a mistake. Josh has never been in trouble before."

After Anderson finished making his remarks, Judge Bertani admonished him, declaring that she did not know what he was talking about by bringing up slavery.

She pointed out that she just heard testimony from his own mother and some of his sisters and that Anderson clearly came from an articulate family, and he was intelligent.

"You made your choices," Judge Bertani told him. "But you have no prior record. The hand that was dealt to you was the hand you dealt yourself. You put yourself there. I don't know what you're talking about, modern-day slavery."

The judge corrected Anderson by telling him that she did not hear any of the victim's family members suggest that "they want you to have the same fate" as their slain relative.

At sentencing, prosecutor Christine Vukmir read a handful of victim impact letters written by the victim's family. She said that Brown's family was afraid to come to court because Anderson, even though he did not know Brown, the murder victim, has called them on multiple occasions from the Will County Jail to talk with them.

In one of the letters, one of the relatives of the slain Crest Hill father wrote, "I hope you rot in prison. I hope you never get to see the light of day. Farewell and good riddance."

The murder victim is survived by six children and two grandchildren, "who never knew their grandfather."

Another member of Brown's family wrote, "of the three (co-defendants) you are, by far, the worst. You took so much away from us."

When Judge Bertani pronounced her 56-year prison sentence for Anderson, she gave him 35 years for the first-degree murder and 21 years for the armed robbery. The murder conviction will be served at 100 percent, while the armed robbery will be served afterward, at 85 percent, the judge explained.

Anderson's two codefendants, Bobbi Jo Ollom and his cousin Christopher Parker are already serving their prison sentences at the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to their roles in setting up the armed robbery and killing of the Crest Hill homicide victim.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Bobbie Jo Ollom, Denny's Murder Co-Defendant, Learns Prison Term

Murderer At Joliet's Denny Restaurant Learns His Prison Sentence