Killer Who Lived Near County Line Road Granted Parole, DOC Reveals Where Rodolfo Trujillo Is Living Now

JOLIET, IL — After spending nine months at the Illinois Department of Corrections, Plainfield area killer Rodolph Trujillo has been turned loose by the DOC. According to his inmate profile posted online, Trujillo's projected discharge date was originally listed as June 26, 2026.

However, according to an Illinois Department of Corrections notification sent to the Will County Courthouse, Trujillo was to be released from the Illinois River Correction Center in Fulton County on Dec. 26. The court document indicated that his new city of residence will be Hobart, Indiana, where he will live with his mother on McAfee Drive.

Trujillo actually spent 10 years in the Will County Jail awaiting trial and sentencing.

The 19-year-old Trujillo was booked into the Will County Jail on Nov. 9, 2015 by Joliet police detectives. A day earlier, Rudy Valdez died from a fatal stabbing in Trujillo's yard in the far west side of Joliet, in the 2900 block of Reflection Drive, near County Line Road.

According to last March's plea bargain, the first-degree murder charge was dropped as Trujillo pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated battery. The amended criminal complaint stated that on Nov. 8, 2015, Trujillo "stabbed Rudy Valdez about the body thereby causing the death of Rudy Valdez and at the time of the killing he believed the circumstances ... would justify or exonerate the killing ... but his belief was unreasonable."

Trujillo went through four different lawyers during his entire 10 years of being kept in the Will County Jail. His final defense attorney is the one who brought his Joliet murder case to a conclusion: downtown Joliet attorney Chuck Bretz.

In Will County Courtroom 404, Trujillo received a prison term of 19 years at the Illinois Department of Corrections for second-degree murder and another two-year prison term for the aggravated battery causing bodily harm. Although Trujillo received a 21-year sentence in total, he would not be staying at the Department of Corrections until the year 2046.

Will County Judge Vincent Cornelius gave Trujillo credit for the time he already served inside the Will County Jail awaiting his trial, which was 3,420 days, Nov. 8, 2015 through March 19, 2025.

In addition, Judge Cornelius gave Trujillo another 45 days of credit for successfully completing a substance abuse program. Finally, Trujillo gained another 56 days of credit for serving 112 days in a self-improvement program at the Will County Jail.

"We believe we were able to establish a self-defense component for Mr. Trujillo's actions on that day, and he certainly believed he was acting in self-defense when the event occurred. Any time there is a loss of life, it's a real tragedy," Bretz told Joliet Patch after his client's sentencing.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Year 8: Joliet Murder Defendant Still In Jail Awaiting Trial

Joliet's Rodolfo Trujillo Did Not Commit 1st Degree Murder: Witness

Year 7: Joliet Murder Defendant Still In Jail Awaiting Trial

48 Murder Defendants In Will County Await Trial