2 Confess To Joliet Township Murder: Will County Sheriff

JOLIET, IL - A weekend killing of a 20-year-old man in Joliet Township has resulted in the arrests of two young men, Elijah Watson, 20, and Anthony Francimore, 23, on first-degree murder charges, according to Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley. Around 1 a.m. Sunday, the sheriff's department responded to the 500 block of Fox Street where authorities found a man face down on the roadway. The man was not moving and police were told he had been shot.

Nathan Ballard was rushed by ambulance to Silver Cross in New Lenox, where he died. One of the witnesses at the scene told sheriff's police that the people who shot Ballard were driving a black Dodge Magnum with tinted windows and several people were inside.

Will County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Dan Jungles told Joliet Patch that the homicide investigation came together quickly because of great cooperation from witnesses at the scene, the recovery of physical evidence at the scene, plus there was a quick response from sheriff's deputies and investigators. The slaying occurred on the outskirts of the Belmont baseball field property, along the roadway, police said.

Jungles told Patch that Francimore and the homicide victim, Ballard, knew each other.

"With the response, we had officers there within minutes and the detectives were there within 15 minutes," Jungles explained Monday night. "We had cooperative witnesses who gave us a great description (of the vehicle) and physical evidence. When you don't have that, it's hard to build a case. This kind of case is typical of what you like to see."

The press statement from Will County Sheriff's Department contained the following:

"Information was developed by detectives that the suspect vehicle and potential suspects had fled to the City of Chicago. Will County Sheriff’s Detectives met with members of the 10th District of the Chicago Police Department and Chicago’s Fugitive Warrants Unit in reference to this investigation. Will County Detectives briefed members of the Chicago Police Department and a physical search of the area where the vehicle was believed to be located was conducted," police said.

Jungles said that one of the Will County Sheriff's detectives on the case previously worked for the Chicago Police Department, so he was able to utilize his network of police contacts to assist with the investigation.

The Black Dodge Magnum was later found on Sunday afternoon in Chicago at 14th and Karlov in Chicago. Police did surveillance and that's when Watson and Francimore were taken into custody, authorities said.

"Detectives would later learn that the suspects in this case intended on robbing the victim, Nathan Ballard, and upon doing so and while driving away from the victim, several shots were fired in the vicinity of Ballard by Elijah Watson. Ballard suffered a single gunshot wound to the upper chest, from what appears to be from a semi-automatic 9 mm handgun," Will County police said.

At the moment, Watson faces four counts of first-degree murder, one count of armed robbery and one count of unlawful use of a gun by a Felon.

Anthony Francimore was charged with one count of murder and one count of armed robbery.

Both men are in custody with bail set at $5 million, the sheriff's office said.

Watson and Francimore have been in the county jail multiple times in recent years. Both men live in Joliet.

"Both have had extensive contacts with police," Jungles said, referring to the Joliet Police Department and the Will County Sheriff's Department.

Francimore, who lives in the 2700 block of Joliet's Dougall Road, was just in the Will County lockup from June 10 until Aug. 16. He was in custody on a theft, two counts of possession of controlled substances and a temporary hold for Schaumburg Police. In 2017, he was in and out of the Will County jail several times, mostly related to a crime involving being picked up for driving under the influence of drugs, speeding more than 35 mph above the limit, driving while revoked and having open alcohol in the car as the driver.

Watson, who confessed to the shooting, Jungles said, lives in the unit block of NorthWest Circle Drive. He was in the county jail from Feb. 17 until April 11 on three charges of domestic battery, armed robbery with a gun, driving with a suspended license and having no insurance. In 2017, Will County arrested Watson on two counts of battery.

Watson also had Will County booking mugshots taken in 2014 and 2015 when he was a teenager.

"It's still an ongoing investigation," Jungles said Monday night. "We're still following up on some other information. Both Francimore and Watson did admit to their involvement in the case, but we still have more search warrants and subpoenas to tie up the loose ends."

Main image via John Ferak/Patch