Wilmington Victim May Lose His Thumb After Nephew Tries Pushing Him Over I-55 Concrete Barrier: Prosecutor

WILMINGTON, IL —William Morris, a 27-year-old Joliet resident, will remain in Will County's Jail facing seven charges including aggravated domestic battery, two crimes of aggravated battery and four crimes of domestic battery. Prosecutors contend that Morris tried to push his uncle over the concrete barrier along Interstate 55 and throw him into the Kankakee River. The victim may also his lose thumb.

Sunday night's vicious family feud happened near Wilmington, and the Illinois State Police responded to the crime and made the arrest. On Tuesday afternoon, Will County Judge Chrystel Gavlin ruled in favor of the prosecution and ordered Morris to remain in the Will County Jail under the SAFE-T-Act. For this year, Judge Gavlin has replaced Judge Derek Ewanic in Courtroom 202. Ewanic is now handling a different variety of cases on the third floor of the courthouse.

According to the petition to deny pretrial release for Morris, Illinois State Police were sent to a 911 call on Sunday at 9:11 p.m. near Interstate 55 northbound, south of River Road in Wilmington. The 911 dispatchers heard screaming in the background.

An Illinois State Trooper saw a silver Dodge mini-van on the right shoulder of I-55 and people standing behind it. One of the victims told the state police that he was at his residence with his family when Morris, his nephew, began arguing on the phone with Morris' ex-boyfriend and they offered to give Morris a ride home.

The uncle told police that Morris punched him in the head and bit his left thumb, court files show. The state trooper saw the victim's thumb was bleeding and punctured. The victim was taken to Riverside Hospital in Kankakee "where it was learned (the victim) may lose his thumb," prosecutors noted.

Illinois State Police interviewed the victim's wife, and she relayed they agreed to give Morris a ride home. The woman was driving, and her husband was in the front passenger seat and Morris was in the backseat with her two juvenile daughters.

The woman indicated that her husband told her to pull the mini-van over and let Morris out "because he continued to argue with his ex-boyfriend and he did not want his daughters to hear the language being used," court documents show.

Morris then attacked his uncle while the woman was driving, prosecutors noted. After the two men exited the vehicle, Morris tried pushing his uncle over the concrete barrier into the Kankakee River, court documents outlined.

The woman tried to separate her husband and Morris and that is when Morris struck her in the face with a closed fist, prosecutors informed Will County Judge Chrystel Gavlin. One of the girls in the car, age 10, told state police that Morris pushed her away when she tried to separate Morris from her father.

"Troopers arrested William and advised he was intoxicated and could not understand what he was saying on scene," prosecutors relayed. "William stated his uncle began hitting him first and everything went black. William had redness and swelling to his face, blood on his hands, and scrapes on both knees. (The uncle) stated he tried to defend himself and tried to punch William when he grabbed his left hand and bit his thumb."

Morris was booked into the Will County Jail at 3:52 a.m. on Monday. He comes from the 100 block of Joliet's Edison Road.