2013 Joliet Slaying Leads To Murder Charges

JOLIET, IL - For the past four years, Joliet's Zeeshan Rashid has been institutionalized at the Illinois Department of Corrections with a parole date of May 26, 2028. Rashid may be long gone from Will County, Joliet's Police detectives and the Will County State's Attorney's Office staff did not forget about him.

On Thursday, the Will County State's Attorney's Office of James Glasgow filed two counts of first-degree murder against Rashid. He is accused of killing 18-year-old Adrian Resendiz in June 2013. A Will County grand jury indictment was filed against Rashid at the courthouse and a bench warrant was issued by Judge Victoria McKay Kennison for Rashid's arrest on murder charges.

Back in 2013, current Joliet Chief of Police Brian Benton told Patch the homicide victim was not a known gang member but he associated with people who belonged to gangs. A year earlier, The Chicago Tribune reported, Resendiz was one of three Joliet teenagers charged with robbing students walking to Joliet Central High School.

On June 16, 2013, Resendiz's body was discovered in a backyard on Joliet's east side along Baker Avenue, just off East Washington Street, according to Patch news accounts.

State's Attorney's Office spokesman Chuck Pelkie told Patch on Thursday that even though Rashid has been imprisoned for a different Will County crime, Joliet Police investigators continued to build a strong case against him related to the 2013 Resendiz murder.

At this point, authorities believe they have the evidence to show Rashid "is the shooter," Pelkie said.

Rashid is now 24 years old, and the Department of Corrections lists him as being locked up at the Illinois River Correctional Center, a medium-security institution in Canton, IL.

Actually, Rashid has been in police custody since June 28, 2013, his incarceration log shows. In 2014, he was convicted of aggravated battery/discharging a firearm, receiving a sentence of 17 years and seven months. A criminal complaint filed on June 20, 2013, stated on that June 15, 2013, Rashid "pointed a handgun" at his victim and said, "give me all you got."

Rashid will likely be returned to the Will County Courthouse to face the murder charges in the near future. Earlier this month, another man, Ray Robinson Jr., pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the same slaying. Robinson was sentenced to 2o years and given credit for about 1,720 days of time served.

A few years ago, there were several crime stories about Rashid in the Joliet Patch, The Chicago Tribune and The Joliet Herald-News. Here are some of them:

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Mugshots of Zeeshan Rashid via Illinois Department of Corrections, mugshot of victim Adrian Resendiz via Joliet Patch files.