Vice Lords Targeted Latin King In Halloween Party Shooting: Sheriff

JOLIET, IL — Monday marks the one-year anniversary of Joliet's worst mass shooting in recent memory. A backyard Halloween-themed costume party at 1018 East Jackson St., attended by more than 200 people, led to a hail of gunfire from rival gang members from the Vice Lords and Latin Kings, according to Will County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Dan Jungles.

Horrified party goers ran off, screaming, shrieking, even trampling one another. When the gunfire stopped, Will County Sheriff's deputies found two homicide victims, both 22 years old, each did not know the other.

"Ultimately, Holly Mathews and Jonathan Ceballos, who were not the intended targets, were pronounced deceased on scene," the Will County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook.

A 2017 Minooka High School graduate, Holly Mathews was recently engaged when she was fatally shot at the backyard party on Joliet's east side.

As for homicide victim Jonathan Ceballos, his brother Carlos organized a GoFundMe called "Funeral Fundraising" that raised $12,300 last year.

"He was a great brother, friend and son I remember how much you used to love riding horses, going to Mexico, how we used to play soccer together all the time and how you always made people laugh," the homicide victim's brother posted in the GoFundMe.

3 Murder Defendants Charged

It's entirely possible that the Halloween party shootings would not have happened if not for the presence of Joliet teenager Sergio Hernandez.

"He was the intended target," Jungles informed Joliet Patch's editor on Saturday. On Monday, Patch confirmed that Hernandez died over the weekend as the one-year anniversary of the shooting arrived.

Hernandez was a member of the Latin Kings street gang while the other three young men now charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder, Joskar Ramos and the Lopez brothers, Thomas and Jeremy, were all Vice Lords, according to Jungles.

"It was an ongoing beef between the two street gangs," Jungles said.

In January, Will County Judge David Carlson set bail at $10 million each for Ramos, Thomas Lopez and Jeremy Lopez. He also informed each of them they would spend the rest of their lives in prison, with no chance of parole, probation or conditional discharge, if they are convicted of their multiple first-degree murder offenses.

Ramos just turned 18 about a week before the shooting, while Jeremy Lopez was 19 and older brother Thomas was 21. Ramos lived with his family on Joliet's Gael Drive, right off Black Road.

'Shooters Began Firing Indiscriminately'

On Nov. 5, 2021, Will County Sheriff's officials issued a statement outlining these events: "During the course of knocking on doors and announcing their presence, they observed Joskar Ramos look out a second story window and then disappear from view. Deputies continued their attempts to have Ramos come to the door ... As the deputies continued their efforts, a deputy observed a gun that had been placed outside the same window onto the roof of the first floor."

Ramos became the first person arrested by Will County Sheriff's detectives in the Halloween party slayings on unrelated gun charges. Authorities announced that Ramos was their prime suspect in the Halloween party murders.

The shootings happened at 12:39 a.m. and dozens of bullets were fired into the crowd gathered near Jackson and Walnut streets, according to Jungles.

"The shooters stood from an elevated position over the crowd, as they began to fire indiscriminately," according to Will County police.

On Jan. 4, the Will County State's Attorney's Office charged Ramos and the Lopez brothers with six counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, five counts of aggravated battery with a firearm and other weapons offenses. Will County Judge Dave Carlson set bail at $10 million for all three of them.

Award of Excellence For Will County

The Will County Sheriff's detectives combined to work more than 1,000 hours investigating the mass shootings in preparation for filing the three murder charges.

"With close to two hundred individuals attending the party, the daunting task of identifying and interviewing all of the partygoers, and obtaining their photos and videos taken at the party became the top priority," the sheriff's office said Friday on social media.

A year later, the Will County Sheriff's Office received an Award of Excellence from the Illinois Homicide Investigator's Association, honoring the detective work performed in the Halloween mass shootings by sheriff's detectives Tom Hannon, Brian O’Leary, Danielle Strohm and Kim Topolewski.

The statewide award is being added to the display cabinet in the lobby at the Will County Sheriff's building on Laraway Road.

“This all hands on deck criminal investigation was a true team effort," Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley announced Friday. "From the deputies that first responded to the scene where this heinous and cowardly attack was perpetrated, to the detectives and crime scene investigators that worked tirelessly on this case."

Joliet Latin King Left Quadriplegic

The target of the Halloween party shootings, Sergio Hernandez, was left paralyzed, according to his criminal defense lawyer Chuck Bretz.

"He's in bad shape," Bretz told Joliet Patch back in April. "He's a quadriplegic, and he depends on a ventilator to breathe."

On Monday, Bretz confirmed that he'd learned the 20-year-0ld Hernandez had died over the weekend.

When the Joliet Latin King street gang member was 18, in February 2021, Joliet Patch reported that Joliet police arrested him after a gun was fired in the direction of another motorist shortly before noon on a Sunday. The drive-by shooting happened on the city's east side near Jackson Street and Garnsey Avenue. Nobody was hit by the errant gunfire.

Sergio Hernandez was booked into the Will County Jail on charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and not having a FOID card. He remained in detention from Feb. 21, 2021 until March 24, 2021, when his bail was reduced from $75,000 to $5,000, according to jail logs.

"Officers met with a victim who claimed that he had been shot at. Further investigation determined that the victim was driving northbound in the 400 block of Garnsey Avenue, at which time an occupant from a passing vehicle fired one round at him," Joliet police reports showed.

Fast-forward another seven months following Hernandez's jail release.

While free on bond, Hernandez was shot attending the backyard party at 1018 East Jackson St.

On Saturday, Joliet Patch asked Jungles whether Hernandez had a loaded gun at the Halloween party at 1018 Jackson St.

"Accounts differ on that," Jungles responded. "There was a Snapchat video of him holding a firearm the day of the shooting, hours before.

"There was also a pistol magazine found near him on the ground."

"She Shouldn't Have Been There"

Holly Mathews may have been the first person shot at the Joliet backyard party, according to her mother, Sharyl Mathews. The Minooka high school graduate was finishing her education at Joliet Junior College, studying to become an arborist.

She just got engaged to Adam Gregurich a week before her death. This July, a memorial bench and plaque for Holly Mathews was added to the Bird Haven Greenhouse & Conservatory on Gougar Road in Pilcher Park.

"Oh, it's beautiful," her mother remarked during Saturday's interview.

On Saturday night, Oct. 30, 2021, Holly Mathews and three friends attended a party in Frankfort. Afterward, the four stopped in Joliet Township at 1018 East Jackson St.

"She was shot with one bullet in the back," her mother recalled. "She was the first one."

Sharyl Mathews said that Sergio Hernandez was the intended target of Ramos and the Lopez brothers, and "he was on the other side of her."

Holly Mathews 'Shouldn't Have Been There'

On Saturday, Sharyl Mathews said she has seen some of the social media videos that people at the party made during the shootings.

"It sounds like a bunch of fireworks," like a dozen firecrackers all going off together, she explained.

As far as the three murder trials go, Sharyl Mathews said, "I was told it was a possibility it could go to trial in 2023, but most of them don't go for four or five years. I'm hoping that it goes because I want to move on and get past this."

Patch asked if she believes Ramos killed her daughter.

"At this point, I'm not sure," she said. "Some people told me she was shot by Ramos, but there was just a barrage of bullets flying."

As for her daughter's homicide, "she was shot at very close range," her mother said.

A total of 12 people were shot that night, according to Sharyl Mathews.

"It wasn't a stray bullet," she said. "You play all kinds of scenarios in your head. What if? What if? What if? She shouldn't have been there. It wasn't even her idea to be there."

As for the performance of the Will County Sheriff's Office, Sharyl Mathews had this to say:

"They solved this quickly, but with over 200 people at this party, this party should have been shut down," she noted.

Two days after the Halloween shootings, Will County Sheriff's officials posted the following statement on their Facebook page:

"It should be known that it is not uncommon to receive numerous noise complaints on weekends and especially holiday weekends in the unincorporated areas of Joliet Township. The Sheriff’s Office did not receive any calls for service originating from 1018 E. Jackson Street on October 30 or 31, up until the time of the shooting.

"The Sheriff’s Office did receive three noise complaint calls and were already in the area at the time of the calls. Due to the complaints, the area sergeant remained in the vicinity and was able to respond to the scene immediately upon hearing the first gunfire. The immediate response was instrumental in providing rapid medical aid to the victims."

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

3 Joliet Murder Defendants Deserve Life Sentences: Holly's Mother

Suspected Gunman In Halloween Party Shooting In Custody: Police

Paralyzed At Halloween Party: Joliet Teen Still Faces 2021 Gun Charge