Murder Victim On The Hill Was Gang Member: Jail

JOLIET, IL - A young man murdered late Saturday night at Joliet's notorious Fairview Public Housing projects on The Hill just got out of the Will County Jail in late June after being arrested by Joliet Police officers on numerous criminal charges in January, jail logs show. The Will County Coroner's Office announced that 24-year-old Eric Ervins of Lake Station, Indiana was pronounced dead at 11:04 p.m. in Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. He died of multiple gunshots in the 800 block of Cardinal Lane. His death is being treated as a homicide by the Joliet Police Department.

Actually, Ervins has lived in Joliet the past several years and he has a Will County criminal rap sheet. He was booked into the county jail in 2015 and 2016. This year, he was in the county jail from January 19 until June 18, when Joliet arrested him on charges of being a gang member possessing a gun, being a felon in possession of a gun, illegal ammunition possession, resisting the arrest and criminal trespass to land. Jail logs listed Ervins as living on the city's west side on Wilcox Street.

On Sunday afternoon, Deputy Chief of Investigations Al Roechner told Joliet Patch that detectives are working all-day on Sunday trying to piece together clues and gather leads about the city's latest homicide at Fairview.

He said that Ervins was shot multiple times around 10:30 p.m. in the rear parking lot. When police responded to the scene, there was a large crowd of residents gathered around the victim. At this point, however, no witnesses to the shooting have come forward and spoken with police, Roechner said.

Meanwhile, police are working with the Joliet Housing Authority in trying to recover video surveillance in hopes of finding the shooter. He urged residents who have leads to call Joliet Police Department's investigations unit at 815-724-3020 or, if they prefer to remain anonymous, to contact Will County Crime Stoppers at 800-323-6734.

Saturday's night shooting occurred just months before the housing authority plans to demolish the entire public housing complex. Residents who live there are being given housing vouchers to relocate elsewhere.

"I know that detectives are still working today; they are still on it," Roechner said around 3 p.m. "People were definitely around. It was a beautiful night, hopefully, someone does the right thing and comes forward and speaks up. We know there are good people out there and we need their help."

Roechner said there were conflicting stories about whether the killer ran off or may have gotten into a getaway car waiting for him nearby.

"The violence must end, and until Fairview is demolished we will work hard with our local police to secure the area," Joliet Housing Authority commissioner Bob Hernandez told Patch on Sunday. "Mayor (Bob) O'Dekirk and other public officials will walk with me on Thursday to speak with residents."

Back in May, Joliet's mayor, Hernandez, council woman Bettye Gavin and housing authority CEO Michael Simelton visited Fairview to inform residents of the upcoming demolition and to let them know that their safety remains a high priority.

Rarely a year in Joliet goes by without multiple murders taking place at Fairview.

On New Year's Eve, a pair of teenagers, 15-year-old Victor J. Arroyo and 17-year-old Aliyah M. Salazar, were gunned down on Rosalind Avenue shortly before midnight. They were sitting in a car with three other people.

Last September, Miles Stallings, 34, of Lockport was murdered on Robin Lane.

"This has probably been one of the toughest, if not the toughest, neighborhood in Joliet, going back to when I was a policeman," O'Dekirk told Patch while out at Fairview back in May.

2018 mugshot of murder victim Eric Ervins via Will County Sheriff