Joliet Mom's Murder: Little Girl, 2, Left In Car Several Hours

JOLIET, IL — The 2-year-old daughter of Maya Smith remained strapped inside her car seat for at least five or six hours Saturday night following the brutal gunshot killing of the little girl's 24-year-old mother inside her car on Joliet's west side, according to a source.

It was not until several minutes past midnight that neighbors notified Joliet police that Smith's parked car was blocking the alley in the 1200 block of Clement Street, the source told Joliet Patch's editor on Wednesday night. When police found the car, they realized that Smith had been the victim of a horrific gunshot killing.

Following Tuesday's arrest and capture of first-degree murder defendant Jermaine Mandley of Bolingbrook, Joliet Police Chief Bill Evans described the young mother's homicide as "one of the most heinous acts that I’ve encountered in my 28 years in law enforcement."

On Wednesday, Mandley, 47, had his first court appearance before Will County Judge Dave Carlson. Mandley's bail is set at $5 million, and he's charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the Joliet woman's homicide.

Joliet Patch broke the news of Mandley's arrest and capture on Tuesday in Chicago, revealing that Mandley had an on-again off-again romantic relationship with Smith.

According to a source, the 24-year-old mother was fatally shot perhaps as early or before 5 p.m. and no later than 6 p.m. Saturday; the killing happened as it was getting dark.

The Joliet mother's killing was captured on video surveillance near the perimeter of the property for the South Side Civic Club, and Joliet police reviewed the video cameras as part of their homicide investigation, according to the source.

The club's address is the 1200 block of Oakland Avenue, but its large parking lot borders an alley closer to Clement Street.

8 Gunshot Wounds For Victim: Source

On Sunday, Joliet police announced that Smith's killing was discovered around 12:20 a.m. in the alley in the 1200 block of Clement Street.

Smith's little girl was found strapped into the backseat child safety seat, and she was unharmed.

"The whole murder was captured on video," Patch's source added.

Smith suffered about eight gunshot wounds to her body, including five gunshots to her face, the source said. Her visitation and funeral service will take place on Saturday morning at Joliet's Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

When the killing happened, Mandley had been in the passenger seat of Smith's car, according to the source. After shooting Smith, Mandley exited her car and went to a house about 100 yards away, where several of his friends already were, the source indicated.

From that house, the source said Mandley called for an Uber and got a ride back to his place in Bolingbrook. In Bolingbrook, Mandley worked as a barber. He did not tell anyone gathered at the house in Joliet about Maya Smith's murder, the source noted.

Three days later, a federal fugitive task force, working closely with the Joliet Police Department's detective unit, pulled over a car near the Chicago-Hammond, Indiana border and Mandley was taken into custody.

He was riding as the passenger, and he did not have any guns at the time of his arrest, the source said. After his capture around 6 p.m. Mandley was brought to the Joliet Police Department for booking. A source said Mandley refused to be questioned by Joliet homicide detectives in connection with Maya Smith's slaying.

He was then booked into the Will County Jail at 9:30 p.m. He will need to come up with $500,000 cash to post as bond to regain his freedom while awaiting his forthcoming first-degree murder trial at the Will County Courthouse.

Mandley Served Prison Term For Reckless Homicide

More than 20 years ago, the Chicago Tribune published several crime stories about Mandley, then 26 years old, after the Bolingbrook resident was arrested on multiple felonies, including reckless homicide.

The Tribune reported that Chicago Police stopped Mandley's car at 35th Street and King Drive after he ran a red light. When the officers approached his car, after the traffic stop, he sped away and drove through another red light at 33rd and State streets, killing 76-year-old Rev. Charles Shyne and his 72-year-old wife, Verlena, a retired Chicago Public Schools teacher.

The Chicago Tribune headline from Nov. 10, 2001 declared, "Driver in crash that killed 2 lacked a license."

The state's largest newspaper revealed that Mandley's driver's license was already revoked two different times, yet he continued driving anyway.

The elderly couple who were killed by Mandley in the Chicago wreck were coming from an anniversary worship service at the Hamlett-Isom Christian Methodist Episcopal Church on West Division Street, where Charles Shyne was the West Side church pastor, the newspaper noted.

After Mandley slammed into the couple's car, killing them, Chicago police found several cans of Olde English 800 Malt Liquor inside Mandley's car, Chicago's newspaper reported.

Mandley was also nearly twice the legal limit in Illinois at the time to be drunk, prosecutors said.

In the 2001 Chicago crash, Mandley was charged in Cook County with reckless homicide, aggravated DUI/3rd plus. He also had previous convictions during the 1990s in Cook County for escape and resisting a police officer, and from DuPage County for obstruction of justice and a felony weapons charge.

Following his reckless homicide conviction, a Cook County judge sentenced Mandley in June of 2002 to 15 years in prison. Documents indicate Mandley was released on parole from the Lincoln Correctional Center around 2014.

He also had a 1999 felony conviction from DuPage County for felon in possession of a gun. Mandley grew up in the Romeoville and Bolingbrook area.

The Chicago Tribune reported in 2001 that Mandley, as a teenager, was convicted in 1993 of criminal sexual abuse and got a sentence of two years probation, and he violated probation in 1995. Following his DuPage County convictions from 1999, Mandley served 13 months in prison at the Illinois River Correctional Center before being paroled in June 2000.

In January 2001, Mandley was charged in Will County with battery against his wife. The criminal complaint stated that Mandley grabbed his wife and held her down on Jan. 24, 2001.

That crime, however, was eventually dismissed in light of Mandley being prosecuted for the more serious reckless homicide-related crimes in Cook County, court records in Will County reflect.

Four months before Mandley's reckless homicide in Chicago, Mandley's wife in Romeoville filed for divorce in Will County, indicating her husband's "whereabouts are unknown. His most recent known address is Pinckneyville, Illinois, where he was in prison."

She also stated they got married one year earlier, in July 2000, and that Mandley "has been guilty of extreme and repeated mental and physical cruelty without cause or provocation" on her part.

More Joliet Patch coverage:

Arrest Made In Joliet Slaying Of Maya Smith: $5 Million Bail Set

'No One Deserved To Be Treated This Way' Joliet Victim's Family Says