Nephew, 14, Died At His Wilmington Heroin House, Uncle Lands In Will Co. Jail After All: Complaint

JOLIET, IL — Even though the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow did not even attempt to keep Robert Delacruz in the Will County Jail related to his Joliet nephew's death from ingesting heroin at Delacruz's Wilmington house last year, the 37-year-old Wilmington man has found his way back into the jail after all.

Back in January, the 37-year-old Wilmington man was turned loose from the Will County Jail after spending just one night in custody; the Will County State's Attorney's Office did not file a petition to deny pretrial release for Delacruz under the Illinois SAFE-T-Act — even though Delacruz still has a pending gunrunning and Fentanyl criminal case from the Joliet Police Department that has yet to go to trial.

Incidentally, in the June of 2024 case, the Will County State's Attorney's Office did in fact file a petition seeking to deny Delacruz pretrial release under the SAFE-T-Act, however, Will County Judge Ken Zelazo turned it down and let Delacruz go back home to Wilmington.

As a result, Delacruz only spent three days in the Will County Jail in June of 2024. Then 12 months later, his 14-year-old nephew died at his house in Wilmington in the 400 block of Fulton Street and criminal charges were just filed in January following a several-month-long investigation.

Will County prosecutors have charged Delacruz with endangering the life or safety of a child for his role in causing Christopher's death.

The complaint indicates that on June 3, 2025, Delacruz left heroin accessible to C.S., a child under the age of 18 years old, and the boy ingested the heroin, and the illegal drug was the cause of his death. According to his obituary, Christopher Sjostrom passed away on June 3, 2025, at the age of 14.

Christopher just graduated eighth grade as part of the Class of 2025 at Laraway School of Joliet.

Wilmington police said that at approximately 12:30 p.m., officers were called to a house on Fulton Street to assist the Wilmington Fire Protection District with a 14-year-old boy who was not breathing. Though CPR was conducted by family in the residence, the boy was pronounced dead at the scene when emergency crews arrived.

The circumstances of Delacruz's curent indefinite detention at the Will County Jail are quite unusual.

According to court files from March 18, Erin Krone was the prosecutor, and Delacruz arrived at the Will County Courthouse that morning for his status hearing in Courtroom 403 of Will County Judge John Connor — then Delacruz left the building after speaking with the Will County Public Defender's Office.

Because Delacruz skipped out on his court hearing, Judge Connor issued a no-bond warrant for his arrest and revoked Delacruz's pretrial release for his 2024 gunrunning and drug charges. Around 11:30 p.m. that same night, Delacruz was captured by the Will County Sheriff's Office, and he has remained in the Will County Jail the past five weeks.

His next pretrial hearing for both sets of his criminal cases will be on May 7 before Judge Connor.

On June 4, 2024, Delacruz was the focus of a Joliet Patch crime story headlined: "2 Gunrunners From Wilmington Captured By Joliet Police: English."

The Joliet Police Department worked with several area police agencies to nab a pair of Wilmington men who are accused of running guns, according to police spokesman Dwayne English.

Following a weekday morning raid, Delacruz, then 35, and his friend and fellow Wilmington resident Aaron David, 37, were booked into the Will County Jail where they're charged with gunrunning, three counts of unlawful sale of guns, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

English said the pair of arrests had been brewing for several months.

Following an intensive narcotics investigation that took place during the first six months of 2024, Delacruz and David were identified as suspects in the unlawful sale of multiple guns, English explained. Delacruz and David unlawfully sold guns to people in exchange for cash and narcotics during this time, he said.

Following a search of Delacruz’s residence in the 400 block of Fulton Street in Wilmington, Joliet officers recovered a handgun, ammunition, and drug paraphernalia. Upon search of David’s residence located in the 23000 block of Coal City Road in Wilmington, officers recovered six rifles, seven handguns and ammunition.

Prior to the search warrants, Delacruz and David were seen inside a vehicle near the 200 block of East Mississippi Avenue in Elwood, according to English. A traffic stop was conducted and officers recovered fentanyl from the vehicle.