Several Joliet Drug Deaths Occur At Motels, Hotels

JOLIET, IL — There were at least nine drug overdose deaths last year at the city of Joliet's overnight lodging businesses, and two of the motels along West Jefferson Street had multiple drug deaths in 2019, a Joliet Patch analysis of Will County Coroner's Office data reveals.

Joliet Patch obtained the addresses for all of last year's drug overdose deaths in Joliet through a Freedom of Information Act request to coroner Patrick O'Neil's office.

After analyzing the 2019 data, the following information stood out:

Fenton's Motel, at 2305 West Jefferson St., and Joliet Plaza Inn & Suites, at 4200 West Jefferson St., each had two fatal drug overdoses, the coroner's data showed.

On Aug. 2, a 37-year-old woman staying at Fenton's died as a result of Fentanyl, cocaine and heroin intoxication, the coroner's office ruled. Five weeks later, Fenton's Motel had another drug overdose. On Sept. 8, a 47-year-old woman died there from Fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol intoxication, the coroner's office ruled.

The two drug overdose deaths at Joliet Plaza Inn & Suites were in September and December.

On Sept. 21, a 36-year-old woman died from Fentanyl and cocaine intoxication while she was at the Joliet Plaza Inn & Suites. Three months later, on Dec. 17, a 32-year-old woman also died at the same business after using Fentanyl and cocaine, the coroner found.

In early January, Joliet Patch revealed that the city was ready to declare the Joliet Plaza Inn & Suites a public nuisance. However, the Joliet City Council vote did not happen. Instead, city officials urged the council to delay to give the current motel owners more time to make a number of much-needed improvements. Parts of their property were never repaired following a 2014 storm.

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Fenton's and Joliet Plaza Inn & Suites were the only lodging businesses in Joliet with multiple drug overdose deaths in 2019. However, the Joliet Police Department also responded to drug overdose deaths at the following hotels last year:

Feb. 4, 2019: The Rodeway Inn, 1730 McDonough St., where a 46-year-old woman died from heroin and cocaine intoxication as her secondary cause of death.

June 26: Red Roof Inn, 1750 McDonough St., where a 32-year-old woman died from cocaine and oxycodone use.

Sept. 26: Clarion Hotel and Conference Center, 411 S. Larkin Ave., where a 57-year-old man died from coronary atherosclerosis; the secondary cause of death was Fentanyl and alcohol intoxication.

Nov. 26: Holiday Inn & Suites, 1471 Rock Creek Blvd., where a 34-year-old man died from Fentanyl, cocaine and heroin intoxication.

Dec. 7: Motel 6, 3551 Mall Loop Drive, where a 39-year-old man died and the main cause of death was listed as heroin and Fentanyl substances.

Overall, the Will County Coroner's data listed about 55 drug-related overdose deaths in the city of Joliet for 2019. There were also four more drug-related deaths that were investigated in Joliet Township or Plainfield Township.