Katie Kearns May Have Killed Herself: Bretz Law Firm

JOLIET, IL - Last November's mysterious disappearance of Woody's bartender Katie Kearns turned into a terrible tragedy after the Will County Sheriff's Department, using cell phone tracking data, located the missing young woman's body. Kearns was found dead in the back of the 1996 Jeep Cherokee she drove. The 24-year-old New Lenox Township resident suffered a single gunshot wound to her head. Her death was ruled a homicide. Soon afterward, Jeremy Boshears, a member of the Joliet Outlaws motorcycle riding club, was taken into custody on three counts of premeditated first-degree murder.

Boshears, 32, has remained in Will County's jail since Nov. 18. He's detained on a $10 million bail. Last November, authorities in Will County revealed little about the circumstances that led to Boshears being charged with her murder. The Joliet native lived in Coal City, with his wife and family. He worked for S&J Door in Frankfort at the time of his arrest.

Although it was widely reported that Will County police raided the Outlaws clubhouse on Joliet's far east side after Kearns vanished, authorities did not reveal the purpose of the raid or what evidence was found.

Now, five months later, criminal defense lawyers Neil Patel and Chuck Bretz are starting to mount a vigorous defense on their client's behalf. Chuck Bretz & Associates recently filed a motion at the Will County Courthouse seeking to subpoena certain medical, insurance and prescription records for the young woman who lived with her family near Mokena.

It's a detailed court filing. The court documents reveal the Will County Sheriff's police theory surrounding her death. "The likely theory in this case is that the alleged victim died of a gunshot wound at the Outlaws Clubhouse in Joliet," Patel informed the judge.

"Law enforcement searched the building. Deputies located a hole consistent with the size of a bullet in the ceiling. They entered the building area and found a bullet ricochet mark on a roof rafter. A search revealed a spent bullet among the ceiling rafters and insulation."

The Bretz Law Firm noted in its recent court filing that "while the forensic scientist did not conclude that the profile matched the victim, a common sense reading of the results shows that the DNA on the bullet is that of the victim. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that this bullet was the bullet that caused the fatal injury."

But was Kearns a murder victim? Patel and Bretz are skeptical. The criminal case is in Will County Courtroom 404 assigned to Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak.

"The path of the wound in the victim's head shows that the gun was on the right side of her head, with the gun pressed against it, when it was fired," Patel informed the court. "The right side of her head must have been angled in such a way as to allow the bullet to travel through her head and into the ceiling.

"This suggests that the right side of her head was angled or tilted towards the ceiling," the lawyer stated.

Just hours before her death, on Sunday night, Nov. 12, Kearns tended bar several blocks down the street at the Woody's Bar on East Washington Street.

"The discovery in this case indicates that within hours of being arrested, the defendant is recorded telling his wife that the victim killed herself," Patel informed the judge.

Moreover, "the victim's father told law enforcement that the victim had a history of depression and anxiety. He believed she was prescribed Xanax and (Adderall)," Patel's filing states. "She had a history of drinking alcohol and may have used (Vicodin) and cannabis. She hung out with people who used heroin or cocaine but he was not sure if she used the same," Patel's court documents reflect.

According to her purse's contents, the documents suggested Kearns was getting mental health treatment in Downers Grove and in Riverside around the time of her death, Patel stated.

After the autopsy, toxicology reports revealed Kearns had several drugs and alcohol in her system. Her blood alcohol concentration was 0.212. Her drug screen tested positive for cocaine, cocaine metabolites, Alprazolam (which is Xanax), Oxcarbazepine and Citalopram, according to Patel's filing.

Inside her purse, police also recovered evidence showing Kearns was treated at the Silver Cross Hospital emergency room in New Lenox for "acute stress reaction; forearm laceration." That event occurred about three weeks before she died, Patel stated.

"Given the nature of the ER visit for stress and a forearm laceration and the lack of medical history suggesting the victim suffered a seizure disorder, it's most likely the Oxcarbazepine was for a mental health issue," Bretz Law Firm argued. Additionally, she had prescriptions from Silver Cross for Alprazolam, Oxcarbazepine and Quetiapine, Patel noted.

According to Patel's filing:

1. Alprazolam treats anxiety and panic disorders.
2. Oxcarbazepine is for mood disorders and bipolar disorder.
3. Quetiapine is an anti-psychotic.
4. Citalpram is an anti-depressant.

"All four drugs carry an increased risk of suicidal thoughts, ideations and actions. All are contra-indicated for alcohol," the Joliet defense attorney noted.

According to Patel's pretrial filing, "a good faith argument exists where the victim ... took her own life by raising a gun to her head and angled her head towards the gun and committed suicide, allowing the bullet to travel upwards into the ceiling. The defendant-alleged subsequent actions may have flowed from a fear that no one would believe what really happened."

Police found Kearns' body in a pole barn on private property in Kankakee County near St. Anne's, roughly an hour's drive from the Joliet Outlaws Clubhouse.

RELATED COVERAGE:

• Glasgow Charges Joliet Outlaw With Murder
• Boshears, Joliet Outlaws And A Bartender's Murder
• Joliet Bartender Goes Missing

Image of Katie Kearns provided to Patch