Sema'J, Katie Kearns, Marissa Koziel: Will County Murder Cases

JOLIET, IL - Since Mike Kelley took over as sheriff of Will County in 2015, there have been about a dozen separate homicide cases handled by his agency, a Joliet Patch analysis found. About half of these untimely death cases netted a quick arrest. But the other half have not led to any arrests. The most recent example involves the gory double murder scene from two weeks ago today on Joliet's Rowell Avenue. This was the case involving the two burning bodies.

So far this year, in 2018, the Will County Sheriff's Office has investigated two new murder cases with a combined total of three homicide victims.

No arrests have been made by Will County's police in either horrific crime.

As most people know, one of the most high-profile unsolved homicide cases in the Joliet area, in recent memory, also happens to be a Will County Sheriff's Department investigation. It's the still-unsolved April 2017 death of Sema'j Crosby.

Regarding the homicide cases that were cleared with an arrest or multiple arrests under Kelley's tenure as sheriff, it's also important to point out that the overwhelming majority are still waiting to go to trial at the Will County Courthouse.

In any event, here's a rundown of homicide cases handled by Will County police since Kelley became sheriff. These were all cases that Patch identified by utilizing online local news archives, press releases from the sheriff's office as well as Will County Coroner's Office data on homicide cases from recent years:

JUNE 26, 2018

Murder victims: Xavier Sallie, 19, and Dontae Morgan, 21, both of Joliet.

Unsolved: A call regarding a fully engulfed car came into the East Joliet Fire Department around 9:55 p.m., a Tuesday night, near Rowell Avenue and Sugar Creek Drive. Hours later, sheriff's deputies discovered two dead bodies inside, Xavier Sallie, 19, and Dontae Morgan, 21. Both were fatally shot before the car was torched. The car, a Mercedes Benz, belonged to Sallie.

STORY: Burning Car Belonged To Joliet Murder Victim: Sheriff

FEB. 23, 2018

Murder victim: Marissa Koziel, 21, formerly of Manhattan and New Lenox.

Unsolved: Koziel's body was found in Joliet Township's Forest Park area. She died from a single gunshot wound. The killer dumped her body near the roadway in the 1500 block of California Avenue in Joliet. Police suspect that her body may have been at the site for several days. Her family members had reported her missing several days earlier.

STORY: Body Dumped In Joliet Was Missing Manhattan Woman

DECEMBER 3, 2017

Murder victim: Ricardo Perez, 36, of Joliet

One arrest made: Police were notified shortly after 12:30 a.m. of a shooting at 1462 Sterling Avenue, on Joliet's east side. Inside the house, Will County police found Ricardo Perez's slain body on the second floor. He was shot in the head. Within hours of the shooting, his 28-year-old brother Chris Perez was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. "We pressed on that during the investigation and he eventually reached the point where he confessed," Will County sheriff's officials said at the time.

STORY: Chris Perez Killed His Brother Ricardo: Sheriff

NOVEMBER 13, 2017

Murder victim: Katie Kearns, 24, of New Lenox Township

One arrest made: Woody's bartender Katie Kearns vanished after leaving work and driving up Joliet's Washington Street to visit the Joliet Outlaws clubhouse. A few days later, her body was found in the back of the 1996 Jeep Cherokee about 60 miles away in Kankakee County. She died from a single gunshot wound to her head. Her death was ruled a homicide. Soon afterward, Jeremy Boshears, a member of the Joliet Outlaws motorcycle club, was taken into custody on three counts of premeditated first-degree murder. Boshears is represented by the Chuck Bretz Law Firm and his criminal defense lawyer Neil Patel is vigorously pursuing an alternative scenario suggesting that Kearns committed suicide inside the Outlaws clubhouse. The Boshears case remains many months away from going to trial at the Will County Courthouse.

Story: Katie Kearns May Have Killed Herself, Bretz Law Firm Suggests

JUNE 21, 2017

Murder victim: Himer Vazquez, 35, of Atlanta, Georgia.

Unsolved: Will County Highway Department employees came across the decomposed body while mowing a ditch along Manhattan-Monee Road. Complicating the police investigation, authorities found no identification on the man who had died of multiple gunshot wounds. Two months later, in August, Will County positively identified the victim as Vazquez.

Story: Will County Seeks Help Finding This Man's Murderer

April 27, 2017

Murder victim: Sema'j Crosby, 1.

Unsolved: The lifeless body of the little girl from Joliet Township's Preston Heights area was discovered underneath furniture inside her family's house on Louis Road. For months, it was unclear how she died. Then in September, Coroner Patrick O'Neil issued a press statement revealing that Sema'j's death was being ruled a homicide. According to O'Neil, medical experts determined Sema'j died from asphyxia.

Story: Sema'j Crosby Case May Stay Unsolved, Joliet Attorney Predicts

April 14, 2017

Victim: Nathan Hofkamp, 29.

One arrest made: James Francis Hess, 65, the live-in acquaintance of Hofkamp's mother, was charged with one count of aggravated discharge of a gun. The fatal shooting occurred in unincorporated Channahon Township. Hofkamp was celebrating his release from prison inside his family's house when he was shot in the chest during an violent confrontation.

Story: Slain Ex-Con's Mother Must Move Out

October 16, 2016

Victim: Oscar Garrido-Castro, 36

One arrest made: The sheriff's office announced at the time that the homicide victim was with Javier Heredia-Rios, 32, of Joliet, at Mora Builders, in Homer Glen between 3 and 4 p.m. when an argument led to Oscar Garrido-Castro’s death. Heredia-Rios, of Joliet's Eastern Avenue, was taken into custody two days later. His arrest came 11 hours after Sheriff’s deputies located the victim's body in an abandoned 2004 GMC Envoy in Joliet Township. The two men allegedly had argued about sexual advances Garrido-Castro made toward Heredia-Rios, authorities have said. Jail logs show that the defendant still remains in county detention for the murder.

Story: Sexual Advances Resulted In Hammer To Man's Head

July 16, 2016

Victim: Joseph "JoJo" Jaquez, 31,

Unsolved: A car fire broke around midnight in Joliet Township in the 1600 block of Patterson Road, near Brandon Road. East Joliet firefighters put out the blaze and found a body in the trunk. The engulfed vehicle was a rented brand new 2016 Dodge Charger. An autopsy determined the victim had died of a single gunshot to his head. Dental records were used to identify the murder victim as Joseph M. Jaquez, 31, of Claim Street in Aurora.

Story: Coroner IDs Body Found In Car Trunk

January 13, 2016

Victim: Dylan Somma, 22, of Lockport Township

One arrest made: Somma died of a single gunshot wound to his chest on Barry Avenue during a scuffle over a drug deal. By the next day, Will County got an arrest warrant for Tariq Pinnick, 19, of Lockport. Eleven months later, thanks to a $5,000 cash reward, a tip came into Crime Stoppers to help police track down Pinnick in Georgia. He was captured on December 8, 2016 and returned to Will County's jail. At the time of the murder, Pinnick was enrolled at Lewis University in Romeoville.

Story: Fugitive Killer Arrives In Joliet For Murder Charge: Cops

January 7, 2016

Victim: Robert Bielec, 61,

Two arrests made: The sheriff's arrested Blaique P. Morgan 19 of 1702 Houston, Joliet and his almost 18-year-old brother, Amari Morgan, for the homicide that occurred at 1704 Houston, Joliet. The two are accused of killing their 62-year-old neighbor Robert Bielec over a long standing neighbor dispute, police said at the time of the arrests. During the ensuing argument, Bielec made a sexual remark about the Morgans' little sister, prosecutors said. Amari Morgan then swung a bat at Bielec's head, killing him in the driveway, police have said.

Story: Teen Charged As Adult In Neighbor's Vicious Murder

October 10, 2015

Victim: Russell Lee Mitchell Jr., 22, of Joliet

Unsolved: Mitchell was fatally shot in the neck on The Hill and he was pronounced dead at Silver Cross Hospital. He was shot around 8 p.m. on a Saturday night in the 100 block of Fairmont Avenue in Lockport Township. Will County police found him in the street."We have limited information and have not identified any suspects at this time," a Will County sheriff's official told the Joliet Herald-News at the time.

Main images via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor