Joliet Stabbing Leads To Guilty Verdicts After Jury Trial

JOLIET, IL — Two years after Romeoville resident Brandon Qualls thrust a knife into the neck and chest of a 32-year-old man inside a house off Essington Road in Joliet, a Will County jury has found Qualls guilty.

Qualls, now 23, was convicted on Thursday of two counts of aggravated battery. When he gets sentenced on Oct. 6, Qualls faces the prospect of being sentenced prison at the Illinois Department of Corrections for a period of two to five years.

There was a three-day-long trial this week at the Will County Courthouse.

On Sept. 10, 2020, Joliet police were sent the victim’s residence on Joliet's west side for a stabbing. The victim said he was stabbed by Qualls, then 21, with a knife in the neck and stomach.

During the encounter, the victim got the knife away from Qualls and escapee from his house. The victim was taken to the hospital and has since recovered from his injuries, prosecutors noted.

Will County State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow thanked Assistant State's Attorneys Tom Bahar and Kimberly Fladhammer, Victim Witness Advocate Danette Pasdertz and Nikkol McGuire for their diligence and perseverance in this case. Glasgow also thanked Joliet police officers Ray Jansma, Don McKinney, Tom Schorie and Larry Brooks.

At the moment, there is no mugshot of Qualls available through the Will County Jail detention logs. Joliet Patch has reached to the Joliet Police Department and the Will County State's Attorney's Office in hopes of obtaining one.