Mother seeks help in finding son's killer in Ingalls Park liquor store slaying

The mother of one of the men killed at a Joliet Township food and liquor store said she wants people to help find her son’s killer and for witnesses to come forward.

Gina Desmond, the mother of Xavier Mendoza, 20, of Joliet said living every day with the torment of not knowing who killed her son is “hell” and she is asking anyone with knowledge of the incident to come forward.

“It’s horrible not knowing who stole your child from you in such a brutal fashion,” Desmond said.

Mendoza and Zachary Stohr, 29, of New Lenox were found mortally wounded from gunshots on the night of Sept. 1 at Ingalls Park Food and Liquor, 1822 E. Washington St.

Stohr suffered a gunshot wound to the back and Mendoza had multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Will County Coroner’s Office. Mendoza was pronounced dead at the scene while Stohr was pronounced dead at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, officials said.

Mendoza was inside of a car parked next to the business and appeared to have a gunshot wound to the head and showed no signs of life, Will County Sheriff’s Office said.

Desmond said the area is usually busy and someone would had to have seen something that night.

She said she started putting up flyers that had information from herself and Will County Crimestoppers about the incident.

The sheriff's office is seeking the public's assistance to identify the suspects in the murder of Mendoza and Stohr. Anyone with information can contact Detective Brian O'Leary at 815-727-8574, extension 4957, or provide information anonymously through Will County Crimestoppers.

Desmond said Mendoza was in that area to pick up a relative who worked at Pollo Veloz Carbonico, which is next to the store, and he was also there to get steak fries from the restaurant. She said she wasn’t aware if Mendoza and Stohr were friends.

Desmond said Mendoza was someone who always tried to help people. She said when he was 6, he would shovel the driveway for an elderly neighbor and carry her groceries.

“He tried to live as care-free as possible. He was always there when someone needed him,” she said.

Desmond said her son loved food and music, and planned on having children one day. She said her son was her “baby bear” and the two would cuddle on a couch and watch movies together.

“I can’t even watch a movie anymore,” she said.

Since her son’s death, Desmond said, she hasn’t been able to eat or sleep right and she has bouts of crying for no reason.

“A mother should not have to bury their child, especially under these circumstances,” she said.