$2M Bail For Gang Member Charged In Gun Death: Judge

JOLIET, IL - On Thursday afternoon, Will County Judge Art Smigielski set a $2 million bail for 19-year-old Joliet resident Jacob Megrant who now faces a dozen felony charges in connection with Wednesday's early morning gun death of a 23-year-old Lockport man in the 6800 block of Joliet's Hadrian Drive on the city's far west side. The man who died, Alexander Perez, was visiting the defendant Tuesday night in the Cumberland South subdivision to purchase drugs, prosecutors informed the judge.

Megrant appeared in front of the judge via a video feed set up at the Will County Jail. He informed the judge he is broke, he is unemployed and has no money in a savings or investment accounts. A public defender was appointed to serve as his legal counsel. Prosecutor Christopher Messina revealed that Megrant faces a 12-count criminal complaint including multiple counts of armed violence, a Class X felony, charges of unlawful possession of controlled substances, at least two charges of unlawful possession of a gun by a street gang member, multiple counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and one count of obstruction of justice.

Messina told the judge that many of the key details surrounding the shooting death of the young man from Lockport are still being sorted out by Joliet's Police Department. According to Thursday's testimony, Perez was inside the Megrant family home on Hadrian Drive and at some point during their drug transaction, Perez asked for a gun from the defendant and that "gun ended up killing him."

"Suffice to say, that gunshot wound to the area of his chest caused his death," Messina told Judge Smigielski.

Messina explained that other witnesses who were also at the home helped carry the shooting victim outside and put him in the driveway. (Joliet Police were called to the scene around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday.)

Suddenly, the defendant blurted out over the video feed, "He was still alive!"

At that point, Smigielski admonished Megrant, telling him "the worst thing" he could be doing at this stage of his criminal court proceedings was saying anything at all; after all, the entire courtroom proceedings are being recorded and there were several witnesses in the courtroom, including his recently appointed counsel from the Public Defender's Office, the judge informed him.

The prosecutor then continued, informing the judge that immediately after Perez was shot and put in the driveway, Megrant got in his car and fled Joliet. He was ultimately captured by the Illinois State Police in Downstate Illinois in Bloomington, the judge learned.

At the time of his arrest, Megrant had three handguns with him in the car and more than 15 grams of cocaine, according to Thursday's testimony.

According to a Joliet Police Department news release related to Megrant's arrest, "officers spoke with several individuals that stated Megrant was possibly with the victim prior to the victim being found deceased. The same individuals stated that Megrant had left prior to police arrival."

Megrant's mother and his sisters showed up at the Will County Courthouse to watch the defendant's proceedings. The judge informed everyone that several of the most serious criminal charges carry a prison term ranging from 15 to 60 years.

It also remains possible that Megrant's charges will be upgraded in the coming days. At the moment, he is not facing any murder charges.

Megrant's family left the courthouse without making any comment to a handful of reporters who covered Thursday's third-floor courtroom proceedings.

Swift Arrest Pleases Chief

Last Friday, Al Roechner was named Joliet's interim chief of police, replacing Brian Benton, who is retiring after a tumultuous past year on the job.

On Thursday evening, Roechner told Joliet Patch he was extremely proud of the work of his detectives and the cooperation the Joliet Police got from other witnesses, who helped lead them to Megrant. He indicated there were a couple other people around at the home on Hadrian Drive at the time the Lockport man was shot.

"After the shooting, we were told that the only person who was with (Perez) was Megrant," Roechner said.

In the middle of the night, Joliet Police put out a bulletin to other statewide police agencies to be on the lookout for Megrant's car.

Sure enough, the Illinois State Police spotted him around Bloomington-Normal, Roechner said. He was taken into custody around 6 a.m. Wednesday. In turn, Joliet Police detectives drove down to get him and he is now in the Will County Jail.

The criminal complaint indicates that Megrant had three guns in his car with him besides the cocaine:

• 1 Smith & Wesson 9 mm handgun
• 1 Kimber 345 auto handgun
• 1 .38 special Interarms Revolver

But why was Megrant caught 100 miles south of Joliet in the Bloomington-Normal area?

Did he have a specific destination in mind?

"He wouldn't tell us where he was going," Roechner told Joliet Patch. "He was just getting away from the situation as far as he could.

"The guy had three guns with him," Roechner noted.

As far as the Joliet Police homicide detectives, Roechner said, "they were out there at 1:15 a.m. Wednesday and working until 2 a.m. the next day (Thursday). They worked their (tails) off on this case."

Roechner wanted people to know that the Joliet Police are aggressively pursuing the possibility of upping the criminal charges against Megrant related to the shooting death.

"Hopefully the evidence will show that we can charge more," he said.

Neighbors told Patch the family moved into the house, which is a rental, during the summer of 2017.

Original Joliet Patch story

The Joliet Police Department arrested Jacob Megrant, a 19-year-old resident of the 6800 block of Hadrian Drive, in connection with several weapons charges including armed violence. One night earlier, Joliet Police officers were called to the 6800 block of Hadrian Drive in the Cumberland South subdivision after a Lockport man was found dead in the driveway. Alexander E. Perez, 23, of Lockport, died from a single gunshot wound to his chest.

The deadly shooting occurred on the city's far west side in the Plainfield area.

Jail logs from Will County reflect that Megrant was booked into custody around 1:15 a.m. Thursday morning on preliminary charges of armed violence, three counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a drug charge and obstructing justice.

The Joliet Patch has calls into the Will County State's Attorney's Office and the Joliet Police Department seeking more information related to Megrant's arrest and his possible connection to the shooting in the same street block where he lives.

Patch will update this story once more information is known.

ORIGINAL STORY: Lockport Man Fatally Shot On Joliet's Hadrian Drive

Mugshot of Jacob Megrant via Will County Sheriff