Little Joliet Boy In Diaper Suffered 4 Gunshots, Mother Suffered 5 Gunshot Wounds: Prosecutor

JOLIET, IL — Joseph Darnell Johnson, the 29-year-old man charged with the first-degree murder of a 4-year-old Joliet boy wearing a diaper and the child's 36-year-old mother on Joliet's east side more than two weeks ago, yelled, "Bitch, you dead!" as Joliet police tried to learn his name and more information surrounding the killings, according to Will County prosecutor Tricia McKenna.

On Monday, the Will County State's Attorney's Office filed its petition to deny pretrial release for Johnson under the SAFE-T-Act. According to the document, at 6:55 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 26, Joliet police officers responded to 718 Garnsey Ave. for a report of shots fired near Cleveland and Dillman.

Multiple 911 callers reported hearing screaming and gunshots and seeing a shirtless black man who threw a gun near the old EJ&E tracks. Joliet police found Johnson lying behind a vehicle with an apparent gunshot wound to his lower leg.

The murder victims, Joselynn Diaz Garcia, 36, and her son, Gianni Reyes, 4, were found on the porch of 718 Garnsey. Both appeared to have suffered from gunshot wounds and were unresponsive. Both were later declared dead by the Joliet Fire Department, Monday's court records show.

According to McKenna's filing, Joselynn Diaz Garcia was wearing leggings, a sports bra and a winter coat. As for her little boy, Gianni was wearing a winter coat, a diaper and gym shoes. Joselynn had several injuries consistent with being beaten to her head and face along with five gunshot wounds.

Those wounds were to the right side of her head, right side of her face, posterior left arm, medial left arm.and lateral left lower leg. Gianni had four gunshot wounds: two to his head, one to the left hip, and one to the left lower leg, McKenna outlined in Monday's SAFE-T-Act detention filing.

Meanwhile, Joselynn's 8-year-old child was found unharmed inside the house asleep. He is non-verbal and has not provided any statements regarding this event to date, prosecutors said.

McKenna also pointed out that interviews with Joselynn's friends and family members established that Joselynn recently moved into 718 Garnsey with her two children.

Approximately two weeks before her slaying, she met Johnson through her friend's boyfriend. Johnson moved in with her to assist her with paying the rent, according to McKenna.

Joliet police searched the home, which corroborated that Johnson had taken up residence in one bedroom while Joselynn and her two children shared the other bedroom.

Joselynn’s phone was broken a week prior, according to her friend, and her only means of contacting people was through the defendant's phone or her son's tablet, McKenna pointed out.

On the Sunday morning of Joliet's double murders, the prosecutor noted, the temperature outside was approximately 10 degrees, with wind chill bringing it near zero. Johnson was found lying with his face in the snow, shirtless, wearing basketball-style shorts, socks and no shoes.

Joliet police officers had tracked the footprints in the snow from where Joseph Johnson was found toward the tracks. There was blood found with the footprints. A brown and black short pistol version of an AK-47 was found with blood on it near the tracks, according to the prosecutor's filing.

Shell casings were found near the gun. Six shell casings were also found inside the Garnsey Avenue residence, near the front door, which was open, according to the Will County State's Attorney's Office.

McKenna further explained that numerous people interviewed by Joliet police reported seeing a person, shirtless and shoeless, holding the gun, firing the gun and heading toward the location where Johnson was immediately located by the police.

The eyewitness accounts corroborated the path of travel of Johnson, the location of the gun and casings, the apparent blood, and the ultimate location of Johnson when officers arrived, McKenna indicated.

Joliet police subsequently conducted a search warrant on the defendant's phone. Photos and videos were recovered that showed him possessing and firing what appears to be the recovered gun, according to the prosecutor. McKenna noted that the defendant does not have a FOID card and is ineligible for a FOID card due to a prior conviction for possession of a firearm without a FOID card.

Joliet police officers spoke to the defendant at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood on Jan. 27. He was awake and coherent and asked for a lawyer once Mirandized. No further questions were asked.

However, the defendant spontaneously made statements on that date and a later date when he asked to speak to the detectives that this was not supposed to happen, McKenna revealed.

The gun was traced and the original purchaser was Johnson. A projectile recovered from the child's body was determined to have been fired by that firearm. Further lab testing is still pending, she added.

Johnson's SAFE-T-Act detention hearing will take place on Feb. 27 in Courtroom 405 of Will County's longest serving judge, Amy Bertani-Tomczak. At Monday morning's very brief hearing in Courtroom 402 of Judge Amy Christiansen, Johnson was escorted into the courtroom in a wheelchair. He is also wearing red jail garments to signify that he is assigned to the medical unit of the Will County Jail.

Johnson comes from University Park. The Joliet Police Department had no prior knowledge of who he was until the Jan. 26 slayings occurred. Johnson is now being represented by private defense counsel, Sean Brown of Chicago, who appeared at the Will County Courthouse to enter his appearance. His business card also reads Sean Brown for U.S. Senate. Brown is one of the candidates vying to fill the vacated Senate seat of retiring Illinois Senator Dick Durbin.