Homicide Victim Holly Mathews' Friend: 'I Just Wish I Had Words'

JOLIET, IL — Shorewood resident Debra Kountz never fathomed she would be organizing a GoFundMe campaign to pay for the funeral expenses for a dear family friend — 22-year-old Joliet resident Holly Mathews.

"We want to give Holly the memorial she deserves, to honor her memory and say our last goodbyes," Kountz posted in the GoFundMe announcement.

The young woman from Joliet who recently got engaged while in Utah was fatally shot early Sunday morning at the backyard house party on Joliet's east side at 1018 East Jackson St. Another Joliet resident, Jonathan Cebellos, also 22, was fatally shot.

Another 10 people were also hospitalized after the two gunmen opened fire on the guests at the Halloween party. Police have said more than 200 people were at the gathering.

Will County Sheriff's detectives have said the shooting appears to be gang-related, even though the party's host and both of the homicide victims had no affiliations with gangs whatsoever.

"It's senseless," Kountz told Joliet Patch on Wednesday evening. "These kids are so young. All this gun violence, it's out of hand."

Holly Mathews is survived by a 17-year-old sister and her parents. Kountz has known the Mathews family from camping at the Leisure Lake resort.

Kountz told Patch "her family is such a fun-loving family."

Holly Mathews was finishing her schooling at Joliet Junior College, studying to become an arborist. She went to Minooka High School, according to Kountz.

So how would she describe Holly Mathews?

"Just so beautiful," Kountz said. "Just a cheer, a cheer to know. A ray of sunshine. I just wish I had words."

In this week's interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Holly Mathews' mother said her daughter was in her last year of college and became engaged two weeks ago. The Sun-Times reported that Holly Mathews met up with a friend on Saturday night at a house party in Frankfort and after leaving around midnight, they went to the party on Joliet's east side.

“They felt a bad vibe and were there for only 10 minutes,” Sharyl Mathews told the Sun-Times.

Holly's mother told WGN Channel 9 that after learning of the overnight shooting, she visited area hospitals trying to find her daughter, and hospital staff told her to go home and wait for a call.

"I waited and waited, and at 6 o'clock in the morning, there was a knock on the door. I fell on the ground. Right when I heard the doorbell ring, I fell on the ground. I knew," Sharyl Mathews told WGN.

The mass shooting in Joliet Township began around 12:40 a.m. The house where it happened is just outside city of Joliet limits. That's why the Will County Sheriff's Office, not the Joliet Police Department, is spearheading the double homicide investigation.

As of 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Holly Mathews Funeral and Memorial Fund on GoFundMe had collected $4,630 in donations from 118 people.

The goal is to reach $12,500.

On Wednesday, Sara Stanton made a donation and posted the following comment on the GoFundMe: "My baby cousin was cruelly taken from all of our lives way too early. We were supposed to be planning a wedding, not a funeral. I love you Holly."

Another person who made a $50 donation to the GoFundMe wrote: "This event was horrible. I don't even want to imagine the pain her family is feeling. RIP."

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