JOLIET, IL — The overwhelming majority of Joliet and Will County murder defendants choose to prolong their criminal cases three, five, seven years or sometimes even longer, such as former Joliet District 86 school teacher Michael Kazecki. But don't count Willis Ellis among that group.
The 58-year-old from the 200 block of Joliet's Nicholson Street may have set the all-time record—it's certainly a record for the new Will County Courthouse—for being the fastest murder defendant to ever take his first-degree murder case to trial before 12 members of a Will County jury.
But things did not go his way at all in the death of 60-year-old Lyndon Hunt.
By Tuesday evening, the Will County State's Attorney's Office, led by Jim Glasgow, Pete Wilkes, Ken Gray, and a host of others, obtained a second-degree murder conviction against Ellis. The Joliet man had been detained on a first-degree murder charge following his Joliet police arrest back on May 13.
According to Wednesday's press release from Will County State's Attorney's Office spokeswoman Kelly O'Brien, during the trial, the Joliet defendant claimed he acted in self-defense.
After hearing the testimony, reviewing the physical evidence, and considering the applicable law, the jury rejected that claim and returned a verdict finding Ellis guilty of second-degree murder. Sentencing will be scheduled on a future date.
"The right to defend oneself is one of our most fundamental legal protections, but that right has limits. After carefully weighing the evidence, the jury determined that the defendant was criminally responsible for Lyndon Hunt’s death. Violence cannot be excused simply because it is later labeled as self-defense. In just over two months, law enforcement, prosecutors, the court, and twelve citizens serving as jurors fulfilled their responsibilities with professionalism and integrity.
"The jury carefully weighed the evidence, considered the defendant's claim that he acted in self-
defense, and returned a verdict that holds him criminally accountable for taking Lyndon Hunt's life. While no verdict can undo this tragedy, today's outcome sends a clear message that acts of deadly violence will be met with a swift, fair, and unwavering pursuit of justice," declared Will County
State's Attorney Jim Glasgow.
Glasgow thanked the prosecutors, Charlene Recio, Laura Byrne and Donna Webdell, IT Specialist Braulio Guzman, Victim Witness Advocate Emma Rannells, Legal Secretary Danielle Foreman, the Joliet Police Department officers, investigators, court personnel and jurors "whose dedication and professionalism made the successful prosecution of the case
possible."
Back on May 18, Joliet Patch revealed that Ellis has been charged by the Will County State's Attorney's Office with three counts of first-degree murder in Hunt's death. Ellis and Hunt both lived in the same apartment house in the 200 block of Nicholson Street.
According to prosecutors, officers from the Joliet Police Department responded to 256 Nicholson St. after a 911 call for shots fired at 4:42 p.m. on May 8. The officers found Hunt lying on the ground in front of the house with a gunshot to his stomach. Ellis was standing outside the house, and he told the Joliet police that the handgun used in the shooting was next to the stairs on the railing, prosecutors said.
The victim was rushed to St. Joe's Hospital for surgery for his gunshot wound. However, he died from his injuries shortly after his arrival. The May 9 autopsy confirmed that the gunshot wound caused Hunt's death.
According to prosecutors, the gun used in the slaying was a Taurus G2C 9mm handgun, and Ellis possesses both an active FOID and a concealed carry license. Ellis was the person who actually called 911.
"He identified himself by name as the shooter and stated the victim had been threatening him. Defendant's wife provided Blink camera footage, which recorded an incident immediately preceding the shooting as well as the shooting itself," prosecutors said.
Prosecutors told Judge Donald DeWilkins that "in the first portion (of the video), the defendant is grilling on the porch and the victim, shirtless, is arguing with the defendant verbally. Neither (person) touches the other and the victim goes down the stairs and into the yard, where he appears to be challenging the defendant to a fistfight in the yard. The second clip shows the victim still down the stairs in the front yard and the defendant charging at him from the top of the stairs, calling him a mother****** and firing a handgun at him" court documents allege.
Prosecutors said that Hunt, the homicide victim, "was not approaching the defendant at the time of the shooting. There is no evidence on the video that the victim was armed and no evidence recovered on scene indicating the victim was armed."
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