Unregistered Energy Solicitor Charged With Murder: Police

WAUKEGAN, IL — An unregistered solicitor for a third-party energy provider has been charged with murder in the death of a 62-year-old Waukegan man, police said.

Nicholas Grandison, 32, of Chicago, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Friday, two days after the death of Johnathan Wolfe, according to court records.

On the evening of Jan. 10, Waukegan police were called to a gated apartment complex in the 2400 block of Dugdale Road for a report of a battery, police said. One of Wolfe's neighbors told officers he had been beaten.

Despite suffering from a serious head injury, Wolfe told officers he did not want any help, according to police. Paramedics took him to the hospital anyway. Police said he died 19 days later.

Investigators learned Grandison entered the complex without permission to solicit for a third-party energy provider, according to Waukegan police.

Grandison encountered Wolfe inside one of the buildings, and they got into a fight, police said. Prosecutors said Wolfe was punched and kicked. Police declined to release the name of Grandison's employer but said it had not been properly registered with the city.

Preliminary autopsy results suggest Wolfe died of head trauma caused by the battery he suffered at Grandison's hands, according to police. Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the case.

Grandison, who does not have a listed attorney, was being held at Lake County Jail in lieu of the $500,000 cash portion of his bond as of Monday. He is due back in court on Feb. 14 for a status of attorney hearing.