Joliet Motorcycle Club Murder Victim Accused Of Being Snitch, Body Weighed Down By Pulley: Prosecutors

JOLIET, IL —In recent days, the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow filed a petition to deny pretrial release for Jerell Burnett, one of three co-defendants facing first-degree murder charges for the summer 2020 disappearance and murder of Carl Gordon. Gordon vanished after visiting a building on Joliet's Ruby Street, arriving on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

In 2023, the Illinois State Police solved the case, making the three arrests:

• 43-year-old Jerell T. Burnett of Chicago
• 44-year-old Antoine D. Lovelace of Elgin
• 29-year-old Cody J. Matthews of Marengo

According to last week's court filing against Burnett, back on June 18, 2020, two people contacted police after they found a body floating in the Cal Sag Channel in Blue Island. Emergency crews responded to the scene and recovered the body of Carl Gordon Jr. He was wrapped in plastic, duct taped and weighed down by pulleys, prosecutors noted.

According to prosecutors, Gordon was last seen alive on May 29, 2020 at 508 Ruby Street in Joliet. The property served as the clubhouse for the Dem Bastards Motorcycle Club's Joliet chapter. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office performed the autopsy on Gordon's body and revealed he died from multiple gunshots, the fatal wound to the back of his head.

The Illinois State Police and ATF spearheaded the investigation into Gordon's fatal shooting, and prosecutors outlined the following facts that were uncovered: Gordon was a prospective member of Dem Bastards Motorcycle Club's North Chapter. Murder defendant Jerell Burnett served as club president and co-murder defendant Cody Matthews served as vice president. Antoine Lovelace served as the enforcer, prosecutors said.

On May 28, 2020, Burnett contacted the president of the Joliet Dem Bastards Motorcycle Club seeking to use their clubhouse on Ruby Street to introduce new prospects to the north chapter, the court filing noted. From there, Burnett sent a mass message to his Dem Bastards members ordering their presence at the meeting on May 29, 2020. Carl Gordon rode his motorcycle from Rockford to the meeting, and he was followed by three people driving in separate cars. Gordon and those witnesses arrived in Joliet around 5:30 p.m., prosecutors revealed.

According to prosecutors, Dem Bastards members from the North and Joliet chapters attended the meeting on Ruby Street. Co-murder defendant Lovelace arrived by car, while Burnett and Matthews arrived on their motorcycles.

Around 9 p.m., Burnett began the meeting and accused Gordon of being a snitch in an arrest that happened earlier that month in Boone County involving another Dem Bastards prospect, court documents allege.

Gordon was also accused of exceeding his authority as it related to the treatment of other prospects for the motorcycle club. At 9:19 p.m., prosecutors say the motorcycle club prospect arrested in Boone County called Gordon's cell phone and "testified" about the group's allegations against Gordon.

When the call ended, prosecutors say Burnett pointed his gun at Gordon and ordered he be taken downstairs to the basement of the Joliet clubhouse, court documents reflect. Gordon was taken downstairs by Burnett, Matthews and Lovelace, all armed with their guns, documents allege. A fourth member of the Joliet chapter accompanied them into the basement.

Downstairs, as Burnett used the light on his cell phone for illumination, he shot Gordon's body, eventually executing him with a fatal shot to the back of the head, prosecutors revealed. Burnett, Lovelace and Matthews then ordered two other people at the meeting to wrap Gordon's body in plastic, taping it with weights and pulleys, then moving it to a sports utility vehicle that was driven to the clubhouse by Matthews, prosecutors said.

During the overnight hours of May 30, 2020, Burnett and Matthews, along with two other people ordered to clean up the clubhouse and wrap up Gordon's slain body, drove to Blue Island, where the four men dumped Godon's body into the channel, according to the petition to deny pretrial release.

"Police learned these defendants threatened witnesses to keep silent and if they did not, would end up like Gordon Jr. The murder weapon believed to be used by Burnett was recovered pursuant to a search warrant and ballistic testing and analysis is still pending with the Illinois State Police Crime Lab," court records noted.

The hearing on the pretrial detention petition against Burnett is set for April 20 in Will County Courthouse Courtroom 402 of Judge Amy Christiansen.

For now, Burnett remains in the Will County Jail, where he has been since Illinois State Police arrested him on Oct. 11, 2023.

Previous Joliet Patch coverage:

Missing Harley Rider Carl Gordon: Joliet's Ruby St. Stays Focus

Carl Gordon Homicide: State Police Raid Ruby St. Building

Body Of Harley Rider Carl Gordon Recovered: Family Announces