'It Was A Homicide That Should Have Never Happened:' Ciolino

JOLIET, IL — At least 80 people attended the first hour of Sunday's first-ever Samantha Harer Scholarship Luncheon. The well-attended event was organized by several of her former Alpha Phi sorority sisters at the University of St. Francis. Harer graduated in the Class of 2016 with a bachelor's in criminal justice. One of the key speakers during Sunday's scholarship event was Paul Ciolino, a homicide investigation expert, radio host and author.

He has worked closely over the past year with the parents of the 23-year-old Channahon resident who was a 911 dispatcher at WESCOM in Plainfield. Samantha Harer died of a gunshot wound on a Tuesday morning, Feb. 13, 2018, inside her apartment along West Bridge Street.

"First and foremost, anyone who's been with Sam just prior to her death or a few months preceding her death, I'd like to speak to," Ciolino told friends and supporters gathered at Sunday's scholarship luncheon inside the Moser Performing Arts Center.

"It's just really the only reason I came today other than the fact that I've donated money earlier on GoFundMe, and I donated some money today. I think this is a great cause. I think Ashley (Cady), you and your friends who put this on, magnificent job," Ciolino informed the crowd, referring to a close friend and sorority sister of Harer's.

At the time of her death, Harer was in an estranged romantic relationship with Felipe "Phil" Flores, a Crest Hill Police officer. Flores was inside her apartment at the time she died of a single gunshot wound to the side of her head, inside her bedroom. She was completely nude at the time of her death. Although the Illinois State Police Crime Laboratory in Chicago later found gunshot residue on the sweatshirt of Flores as well as on his right hand, Channahon Police Chief Shane Casey and Deputy Chief Adam Bogart agreed to treat Harer's death as a suicide and close the investigation and classify it as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In January, Harer's mother and father retained a Brooklyn, N.Y. civil rights attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, who grew up in Valparaiso, Indiana.

In recent months, Bonjean successfully convinced a federal judge in Chicago to let her amend the family's original federal lawsuit against Flores, Channahon and Crest Hill.

Now, Channahon's police chief, deputy police chief, and lead detective, Andrew McClellan, are also named as additional co-defendants in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.

The federal lawsuit accuses Channahon's Police Department of misconduct and intentionally covering up the true circumstances of Harer's death.

On Sunday afternoon in Joliet, Ciolino told the audience that "I can specialize in these kinds of cases. And we call them 'Death And Slander.' Not only did somebody die, then they slander them after they're dead.

"There's a reporter here today, John Ferak from the Joliet Patch, who has done just tremendous work on this thing, and kept it public, and that's what we need to do in these cases. We have to keep these things public. We have to keep people interested, because, the authorities want this to go away. They don't want to hear about it. They're not interested in hearing about it. As far as they're concerned, this is a done deal.

"I can assure you, it is anything but done. And at the end of the day, we're going to get justice for Samantha. I guarantee it. And I stand up here as somebody who's been doing this for over 40 years now. And I can tell you I know when we can win a case ... and in this case we have a tremendous amount of facts to support, frankly, she was murdered.

"There's no easy way to put this. It was a homicide that should have never happened," Ciolino told Sunday's crowd. "But often, young women find themselves in a position of men who are older, stronger, meaner, and they never see it coming, and they just don't understand the signs they see. Public service announcements for you young women: You got a boyfriend or a beau, who's controlling, who wants to check your email constantly, who's into your business 24/7, say goodbye and say it fast. And this is advice from a father of six and grandfather of five, giving you, and a homicide investigator of 30-plus years. Don't tolerate it. Get rid of him. Because, he's trouble and it only gets worse. It never, ever gets better."

These days, Ciolino hosts a weekly Saturday night radio show on Chicago's WLS AM-890 called The PoPo Report. According the website for Paul J. Ciolino & Associates International Forensic Consortium, "Paul Ciolino is a life long resident of Chicago and was the first and only Homicide Investigation expert hired by 48 Hours and CBS News as an on air personality and expert."

Cady, scholarship director and Alpha Phi sorority alumna from the University of St. Francis in 2016, also served as one of Sunday's speakers. Cady was a close friend of Harer during their time together at the University of St. Francis and as sorority sisters.

"It's a tragedy that is ongoing right now," Cady reminded everyone. "But, in light of that tragedy, that's not all that we want Sam to be remembered for is this tragedy. We want her hard-work and her dedication, she was so dedicated to the sorority, to helping her family, her jobs. There were a lot of times she could not be at events because she was working. And that's what we want people to remember about her, not all of the media stuff, as much as that is important right now, that's not what we want the lasting impression to be.

"So that's why we decided to start this scholarship ... Our goal is to raise $25,000, that's what we need in order to start the scholarship and then that will be forever."

Damon Sloan, vice president of student and alumni affairs at the University of St. Francis, was also one of Sunday's speakers. He told everyone at the scholarship luncheon how he had taught Samantha Harer in 2012 when she was an undergraduate.

The CORE I class was about giving public speeches. The class met at 8 a.m. and Harer was always on time, and she sat in the front row. She amused the class with her funny stories about her part-time job working at a local McDonald's fast-food restaurant, Sloan told everyone.

"I knew from Day 1 that she was an outstanding student," Sloan said, noting that her funny, detailed stories in class about working at McDonald's, served to get "her motivated to finish her degree and do something more."