Defendant fit to stand trial in 2020 Boulder Hill drive-by shooting that claimed two lives

YORKVILLE – A psychological evaluation for one of the two men charged with murder in a 2020 Boulder Hill double homicide has found him fit to stand trial.

Jaquarance Handley is serving time in Pontiac Correctional Center for assaulting corrections officers at the Kendall County jail in Yorkville and faces murder and weapons charges in connection with the deaths of two women.

Handley, 34, of Joliet, and James E. Brown, 29, of North Aurora each have been indicted on charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery and aggravated discharge of a firearm.

The fitness evaluation for Handley was performed by forensic psychiatrist Terry M. Killian of Springfield.

Handley’s attorney, Chris Wheaton of the Kendall County Public Defender’s Office, announced the results in a courtroom on Feb. 23.

Circuit Judge Robert Pilmer immediately ordered the document to be impounded.

The evaluation means that Handley’s murder trial will move forward.

But first, Handley is to be tried on additional aggravated battery charges that accumulated during his stay at the Kendall County lockup.

Handley and Brown are to be tried separately on the murder charges.

In what police described as an attempted gangland hit, the two allegedly used an AR-15 rifle to shoot into a home on Sierra Road in unincorporated Boulder Hill the morning of Nov. 11, 2020.

Cassandra Chatman died shortly afterward at a nearby hospital, while her adult daughter, Changina Chatman, died from her injuries several months later.

The intended target of the shooting escaped, while Brown and Handley were arrested within hours of the attack.

Handley’s mental state appears to have been called into question because of his behavior in the jail after his arrest in connection with the killings.

According to the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office, Handley frequently smeared the walls of his jail cell with human excrement. He was convicted on aggravated assault charges for throwing feces at jail guards and spitting on them.

Late last spring, when Handley refused to appear in court for a hearing, Pilmer walked across the parking lot from the courthouse and held the proceedings at the jail.

Handley, who appeared to be naked, stood at the window of a holding cell, screaming unintelligible objections.

Brown, who remains in custody at the county jail, will appear before Pilmer for a hearing on May 12, with the case expected to go to trial in June. He is represented by flamboyant Chicago mob lawyer Joe “The Shark” Lopez.