Paroled Joliet Killer Arthur Lee Mitchell Faces 7 New Charges

JOLIET, IL — After spending 27 years wearing a sky blue Illinois Department of Corrections uniform and writing letters to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker seeking an executive clemency on his Joliet first-degree murder conviction from 1995, 60-year-old Arthur Lee Mitchell is back in custody, facing seven new criminal charges from the Joliet Police Department.

On Monday evening, Mitchell attacked a woman and her adult son at her house in the 800 block of Kelly Avenue, according to Joliet police, who say Mitchell knows the woman and her son.

This week, the Will County State's Attorney's Office charged Mitchell with the following crimes: felon in possession of a weapon, residential burglary, battery, parole violation, criminal trespass to a residence, domestic battery and resisting arrest.

Court records indicated Mitchell's weapon during Monday's Kelly Avenue attack was a metal curtain rod.

Illinois Department of Corrections records indicate Mitchell got paroled last July from the Dixon Correctional Center. He had spent the past several years in Dixon trying to gain executive clemency from Pritzker in regard to the 1995 murder of Joliet resident Rickey Neal, 38, during an auto repair quarrel, the Chicago Tribune reported at the time of the slaying.

Mitchell used a brick to kill Neal, according to the Chicago Tribune. Mitchell was found guilty at his Will County jury trial of first-degree murder and sentenced to 57 years of imprisonment.

"Defendant filed several post conviction petitions and a petition for relief from judgment over the next 20 years, none of which garnered any relief," the Appellate Court of Illinois Third District stated in its Nov. 9, 2021 ruling rejecting Mitchell's attempt to overturn his conviction.

"Accordingly, we find that to continue this appeal would be wholly frivolous," the three appeals judges agreed. "We therefore affirm the judgment entered in the circuit court of Will County and allow the State Appellate Defender to withdraw as counsel for defendant."

Mitchell's post-conviction filings portrayed him as a man of wisdom inside the Illinois penal system.

In his letters to Pritzker seeking clemency, Mitchell sent along his state of Illinois vocational certificate he obtained on April 14, 2021.

The certificate states that Mitchell "has successfully completed 330 vocational training hours in the Commercial Custodian program. The curriculum of this program includes chemical safety, general cleaning practices, hard floor care and carpet and upholstery cleaning."

For Mitchell's petition to Pritzker, a handful of fellow Illinois prisoners wrote letters on his behalf, including Keith Barmore, who wrote, "I have been knowing Mr. Mitchell for the last 16 years. And I have been working in the law library here in the Dixon Correctional Center the last five and a half years. And Mr. Mitchell ... has also been positive and always sharing a word of wisdom with you or whatever you're going through."

Another Dixon Correctional Center inmate, Fred D. Wilson, wrote a letter to Pritzker on May 3, 2021, regarding executive clemency relief for Mitchell.

"Dear Govenor (sic) Pritzker. I have known Arthur since 1997 or 1998 when I was working in the law library at Stateville Correctional Center. I have witnessed Arthur undergo a remarkable transformation from a desultory and directionless man to a thoughtful, humble and spiritual person. I strongly suggest and believe that he will pose no danger to his community, and I believe that he will prove to be an asset. I humbly request that his sentence be commuted to time served."

Also submitting a letter was Troy Mitchell, the 50-year-old nephew of Arthur Lee Mitchell. His letter to Pritzker noted "that when my uncle Arthur Mitchell went to prison I was 24 years old and a lot has changed since then. Today, I'm a business owner. I own S &D (Electronics) Outlet. I'm located at 37 E. Cass St. Joliet ... I also have a cousin by the name of Denzel Mitchell. He's rehabbing his three-story building right now, and I told him I was writing our uncle Arthur a letter of recommendation for the clemency board, and he let me know to put his number down ... if you need to contact him, we both guaranteed our uncle a job immediately of his release and a good place to live ..."

Arthur Lee Mitchell wrote that he made several accomplishments "over the years of my incarceration" including: his G.E.D., vocational instruction, accounting class scores and his rap sheet.

"And I recently finished another class, commercial custodian class. Unfortunately, I have been unable to get my welding certificate and my civil law class scores which I took down at Stateville Correctional Center years 1988-1989. I thought it was Joliet Junior College who had the program down there at the time, but I was mistaken. I've recently been informed that it may have been Lewis University ... or Roosevelt University out of Chicago ... The time you all hear my clemency, the month of my birthday, May 2021, I'll be 59 years young, 26 1/2 years in and two years left.

"To say I'm praying is an understatement," Mitchell ended his April 8, 2021 letter.

Following this week's Joliet police arrest in the 800 block of Kelly Avenue, Mitchell's next appearance in front of Will County Judge Dave Carlson is set for Jan. 31.

His bail remains at $150,000.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Joliet Home Invasion On Kelly Avenue, Man, 60, Arrested