Man In Jail More Than 5 Years On Murder Charge Says It's Too Cold, Wants To Go To Different, Warmer Jail

A man jailed for for more than five years for allegedly gunning down his uncle filed court papers asking he be locked up somewhere warmer.

Jason Gonzalez, 28, will argue that he should be transferred to a warmer jail on Monday.

“It’s absolutely absurd how cold the administration has allowed the pod to become,” Gonzalez wrote in a declaration filed with the court.

“They know about the problem; we’ve all written grievances and complained to the correctional officers,” he said.

“It’s so cold at night that I’ve resorted to wrapping myself up in my mattress so I can get some sleep,” Gonzalez said. “I wear every article of clothing I have and still it’s not enough. My fingers are numb, my feet are numb. My nose is running and my back is aching. The administration just doesn’t care.”

An alleged burglar, two alleged armed robbers, a man in on weapons charges, and a man charged with manufacturing ecstasy all have Gonzalez’s back and wrote declarations of their own.

“It is very cold in my room. My feet can’t move at night,” said alleged burglar Dowayne Beckford, 24.

“This is below room temperature and no one seems to care,” Beckford said.

“I’m scared I might catch pneumonia or hypothermia, it’s that bad,” said alleged armed robber Terri Young, 20.

“It’s so cold back here that I put water in a cup and it freezes if I put it by the window,” Young said. “I’m sleeping on a two inch bed and it’s killing my back, and the cold isn’t making it any better. I’m afraid of getting frostbite it’s so cold.”

In on gun charges, Nicholas Ward, 19, said, “It’s so cold in here it’s not funny. This is ridiculous.”

“I just want some heat,” Ward said. “It’s winter time, why are we not allowed to get some heat?”

Christopher Lee Beale, 26 and jailed on an ecstasy charge, said it’s so cold he cannot sleep.

“It bothers my asthma,” Beal said. My nose is running, my lips are cracked. There’s no heat coming from the vents.”

And alleged armed robber Jesus Moses Simms, 22, who filed court papers denying he is a prostitute, also does not like the temperature.

“My feet are cracking and I’m bleeding from my toes because they’re cracking,” said Simms, who has complained about a lot of things at the jail since he was locked up a little more than a year ago.

Sheriff’s department spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer conceded the jail’s design may make it susceptible to getting cold.
“It is a concrete and steel building, for reasons we could list,” said Hoffmeyer, who noted that inmates can request additional blankets and are issued thermal underwear.

Gonzalez has been locked up in the county jail since shortly after he allegedly murdered his uncle Lance Goebel in September 2009.

Gonzalez shot Goebel numerous times with a 9-mm handgun, then stole $1,000 and his uncle’s Chevy HHR, police said. The vehicle was later located about a mile from Goebel’s New Lenox Township residence.

Goebel’s wife found her husband dead in the home. Several days later, the cops caught Gonzalez sleeping in his mother’s 1997 Saturn, which he reportedly borrowed from her shortly before the killing. Gonzalez was parked behind a bush on Larkin Avenue in Joliet, police said.

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