Romeo Nance, right inset, allegedly killed eight people, including seven of his own family members in a shooting back an January in Joliet, Illinois. On May 31, his alleged accomplice, Jon Hansen, left inset, was charged with murder. (Mug shots: Will County Sheriff; Screenshot: WFLD/YouTube)
The man who was with a murderer during a shooting spree that killed eight people including seven family members earlier this year in Illinois is now facing charges himself, cops say.
Jon W. Hansen, 24, is facing three counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said Friday. Deputies allege Hansen admitted to being with the shooter, Romeo Nance, for at least one of the murders and another shooting during the January rampage in the Joliet, a suburb of Chicago.
Cops responded around 4:30 p.m. Jan. 21 for a shooting in Pheasant Run Apartments at 5 Pheasant Run Road in Joliet Township. When they arrived, they found a man later identified as 28-year-old Toyosi Bakare suffering to a gunshot wound to the eye. Paramedics took Bakare to the hospital where doctors pronounced him dead. Investigators learned of another shooting a short time prior in the City of Joliet where the suspect vehicle was a red Toyota.
When surveillance video of the Bakare’s shooting showed a red Toyota entering and leaving the complex, investigators realized they were dealing with the same suspect. A few hours later detectives identified the suspect vehicle as a red Toyota Camry with the Illinois license plate Q73 0412, which Nance drove, they said. Shortly after noon, deputies went to the 2200 block of West Acres to contact the registered owner of the Camry but received no response. Deputies also knocked on the door across the street which also belonged to Nance’s family. They found blood and bullet holes outside the door.
Cops went into the home and found two dead people, the sheriff’s office said. When officers went into the home where the owner of the red Camry lived, they found five more people dead.
Around 6 p.m. the same day, cops received word Nance was driving along I-35 in the San Antonio, Texas-area, authorities said. The U.S. Marshals Service and local police cornered Nance at a gas station in Natalia, Texas, more than 1,000 miles away from Joliet. He got out of his car and ran away. Officers later found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said. It was the same gun used to kill Bakare, deputies say.
Investigators back in Illinois later interviewed Hansen on Jan. 27. He allegedly “made statements indicating he was with” Nance during some of the mass shooting event. Hansen admitted to being present when Nance randomly shot and killed Bakare and injured another man in separate shooting, according to authorities. Hanson allegedly told deputies he chucked the pistol used in the non-fatal shooting in the DuPage River near his house after Nance gave it to him.
On Feb. 5, divers found the pistol while dragging a magnet on the bottom of the riverbed, deputies said. Cops arrested Hansen on Friday and took him to the Will County Adult Detention Center where he is being held without bond.
The other murder victims in the shooting spree were all Nance’s family members. According to Chicago Fox affiliate WFLD, they are:
- Tameka Nance, 47, mother
- Christine Esters, 38, aunt
- William Esters II, 35, uncle
- Joshua Nance, 31, brother
- Alexandria Nance, 20, sister
- 16-year-old, sister
- 14-year-old, sister
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