Heroin Homicide At Kipling Estates: Saul Nunez Sent To Prison

SHOREWOOD, IL — Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced that Saul Nunez, 45, of Shorewood, was sentenced this week to 10 years of prison for selling fentanyl to a 25-year-old man who died from an overdose inside Shorewood's Kipling Estates subdivision in the summer of 2017.

“Saul Nunez is the 17th Will County defendant to receive a prison sentence for dealing deadly poison that causes the death of another. Although these cases are often extremely difficult to investigate, our police departments and my office are committed to doing everything we can to take dealers who sell deadly drugs like fentanyl off our streets,” Glasgow declared in Tuesday's press release.

“In 2021, 147 people in Will County died from overdoses, and 140 of those overdoses were opioid related. We need to remain vigilant in combatting this public health crisis in our community," Glasgow pointed out.

Nunez pleaded guilty Monday to one count of drug -induced homicide and one count of delivery of a controlled substance. Nunez was sentenced by Will County Judge Daniel Rippy to 10 years in prison that will be served at the same time as the 3-year sentence for the delivery of a controlled substance felony.

Will County State's Attorney's Office spokeswoman Carole Cheney notified Patch that Nunez will get credit for the 1,282 days he's already served in custody. He will serve the remaining portion of the 10-year prison sentence at 75 percent, she noted.

The overdose victim, Christopher Shanine of Shorewood, was found June 23, 2017, face down on the ground in the yard of the home of Saul Nunez, who was living with his parents.

Nunez came from the 800 block of Diamond Head Drive. On July 20, 2019, Nunez was taken into custody by Shorewood police slightly more than two years after Shanine's death. Nunez has remained in the Will County Jail ever since. His bail was set at $2.5 million.

Shorewood police analyzed the victim’s cell phone and saw that he had been in contact with Nunez through video, voice, and text messages spanning from the previous evening into the early morning hours of June 23, 2017.

In one text, Nunez wrote “I’ll have it prepared,” and in another, texted “come now.”

Following the execution of a search warrant, Shorewood police recovered syringes full of a liquid substance later confirmed to contain a mixture of morphine, heroin, and fentanyl at Nunez’s residence. An autopsy revealed the victim died of fentanyl and heroin intoxication, authorities announced.

Since 2009, the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office said it has charged 20 defendants in Drug Induced Homicide cases; two of these cases are pending and another was dismissed following the death of a witness. The remaining 17 defendants, including Nunez, have received prison sentences totaling 137 years.

Fentanyl is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.

Glasgow noted that the Drug Enforcement Administration has developed a “Faces of Fentanyl” exhibit to share the stories and commemorate the lives lost from fentanyl poisoning. Individuals who have lost loved ones to fentanyl may submit their stories including the name, age, and photo of the individual to fentanylawareness@dea.gov, or post a photo and the loved one’s name to social media using the hashtag #justKNOW.

In Tuesday's press release, Glasgow credited the Shorewood Police Department and recently retired Shorewood Police Detective Jason Keehma for pursuing an aggressive investigation, Assistant State’s Attorneys Peter Wilkes and Adam Capelli for securing a prison sentence in this case, and Victim Witness Advocate Mallory Magee for working with the victim’s family.