Joliet Woman Accused Of Shooting Husband No Longer On GPS Bracelet

JOLIET, IL — Denise O'Malley, the 57-year-old Joliet woman who shot her husband in the chest while he was watching a September 2020 Chicago Bears game on TV at their Brighton Lane home, according to testimony, is no longer wearing a GPS monitoring bracelet.

Court records indicate that O'Malley's motion to remove her GPS monitoring bracelet was granted, and O'Malley's GPS monitoring bracelet was ordered to be taken off. All other conditions of her bond are to remain in place, court files show.

Charged with attempted murder as her most serious offense, O'Malley has been free since her $750,000 bail was lowered to $100,000 by Will County Judge David Carlson in late November 2020. No trial date has been set, yet.

In October 2020, Joliet Patch reported that as John O'Malley was inside his house Sept. 13 celebrating another Chicago Bears fourth quarter touchdown against the Detroit Lions, his 55-year-old wife appeared near the living room, hiding her hands behind her back. Then, Denise O'Malley pointed a gun at her husband of more than 30 years and fired, the Joliet shooting victim testified.

A retired Cook County Sheriff's Office deputy, John O'Malley told Judge Carlson that he was shot in his left thigh and upper chest. Bleeding profusely, John O'Malley ran outside his house in the 1900 block of Brighton Lane and collapsed. Neighbors called 911.

After being hospitalized in critical condition, John O'Malley made a remarkable recovery. During an October 2020 court hearing, his wife's criminal defense attorney Jeff Tomczak called John O'Malley to testify. John O'Malley told the judge that he and Denise have been married 34 years, they have one grown son and one grown daughter, and he spent 32 years with the Cook County Sheriff's Office before retiring a few years ago.

"You were shot two times?" Tomczak asked his witness.

"Yes, sir," responded the silver-haired man wearing a dark navy suit.

Recalling the Sept. 13, 2020, shooting, John O'Malley testified that "it was mental illness. It was not Denise that did the offense. It was not my wife; no other reasons for what happened."

John O'Malley was shot with a .357 revolver, and the Joliet Police Department later recovered the gun from Denise O'Malley's kitchen table, according to testimony.

The shooting victim agreed with Tomczak that Denise O'Malley should no longer be held in the Will County Jail. Instead, Tomczak said he wanted Denise O'Malley to go to Linden Oaks Behavioral Health to address her mental illnesses.

A registered nurse at Edward Hospital in Naperville, Denise O'Malley has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated domestic battery.