Romeo Nances accomplice charged in Joliet Township murder: sheriff

Toyosi Bakare was transported in critical condition to St. Joseph Hospital in Joliet, where he died from his injuries.

May 31, 2024, 6:19 p.m. CDT | Update May 31, 2024, 6:53 p.m. CDT

JOLIETTE — Jon Hansen, a 24-year-old Shorewood resident with an extensive criminal history in Will County, is now charged with first-degree murder for his role in helping now-deceased Joliet mass murder defendant Romeo Nance commit a murder in Joliet Township and the non-fatal shooting. of another person in January, the sheriff's office said.

The Will County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook that Hansen faces three counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of aggravated battery with a firearm. On Thursday, Will County Sheriff's Office detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Hansen, and Will County Judge Sarah Jones signed the arrest warrant without bail.

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Hansen's address is listed in the 300 block of Ravinia Drive.

“Jon later told detectives that he had thrown the gun given to him by Roméo Nance into the DuPage River near his residence. Jon refused to provide any further information regarding the location of the firearm “Detectives were able to determine the location of the firearm through other investigative means,” the Will County Sheriff said Friday evening on Facebook.

On Jan. 21, the Will County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call about a shooting at the Pheasant Run Apartments in unincorporated Joliet Township. Deputies located a critically injured man, Toyosi Bakare, 28, of Joliet, with a single gunshot wound to the head.

While officers were securing the crime scene, they learned that another shooting had occurred in the city of Joliet, in the 200 block of Davis Street, shortly before. Victim Mario Guerrero reported to members of the Joliet Police Department that the suspect vehicle in this incident was a red Toyota.

This Sunday evening, Toyosi Bakare died from his gunshot wound at St. Joe Hospital.

At 8 p.m., law enforcement identified a red Toyota Camry with Illinois license plate Q73 0412 as the car used by Joliet resident Romeo Nance, who had an extensive criminal history. Later, seven members of Nance's family were found killed in their homes on West Acres Road in the town of Joliet.

Nance later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after fleeing to Texas, police said in January.

“The Will County Sheriff's Office can confirm that the 9mm handgun used by Romeo Nance to end his life is the same weapon used to murder Toyosi Bakare,” authorities said Friday night.

Over the past four months, police said detectives with the Will County Sheriff's Office and the Joliet Police Department determined that Jon W. Hansen was with Romeo Nance before the shootings of Toyosi Bakare and Mario Guerrero.

In late January, detectives with the Will County Sheriff's Office interviewed Hansen and “Jon made statements to detectives indicating that he was with Romeo Nance on January 21 around 3:30 p.m.”

“Jon further stated that he was with Romeo Nance when the two random shootings occurred in the Joliet area. Jon stated that the gun used to shoot Mario Guerrero on Davis Street in Joliet was given to him by Romeo Nance right after the shooting Jon also said he was with Romeo Nance when Toyosi Bakare was shot and killed at the Pheasant Run Apartments in Joliet Township Jon said the gun used to shoot Toyosi. Bakare was a Glock 9mm ghost pistol.

On Feb. 5, detectives met with members of the Plainfield Fire Department to conduct a search of the DuPage River near Westshore Drive and Picnic Street in Shorewood. A Plainfield Fire Department diver located a loaded black Springfield Armory XDS pistol by dragging a magnet along the bottom of the river bed.

Meanwhile, Hansen invoked his right to remain silent regarding the allegations. Hansen is incarcerated at the Will County Adult Detention Center awaiting his first court appearance. Hansen was taken into custody Friday at 4:24 p.m.

“The detectives just didn’t give up,” Will County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dan Jungles told Joliet Patch Friday evening. “This was a true team effort and they wouldn’t stop until they had all the proper information.”

Jungles told Joliet Patch Friday evening that Hansen and Romeo Nance were longtime friends and associates. Sheriff's officials still believe Romeo Nance committed all the murders, but Hansen is charged with the Joliet Township murder under the prosecution's theory of liability.

In January, the following relatives of Romeo Nance were found dead in two homes on West Acres in Joliet: Nance's mother, Tameka Nance, 47; brother Joshua Nance, 31; aunt Christine Esters, 38, uncle William Esters, 35; and sisters Alexandria Nance, 20; Alonnah Nance, 16, and Angel Nance, 14.

Related coverage of the Joliet patch:

'Romeo Nance's reign of terror' in Joliet is over: Sheriff's office

Home confinement, no more prison sentence for Roméo Nance's girlfriend

2 Joliet West students among 7 families killed by Roméo Nance