Victim in 2019 Joliet shooting testifies in Rutledge murder trial

Police and investigators secure the scene of a shooting Friday, Dec. 20, 2019, as a shooting victim lays on the sidewalk along Sherwood Place in Joliet, Ill. One male was killed and a female was transported to an area hospital with an injury.

A victim who was wounded in an attack in which her brother was slain identified the defendant, Matthew Rutledge, 41, as the assailant during his trial Friday.

The victim said Rutledge was the shooter who killed her brother and wounded her in 2019, when she went to his house in Joliet to search for her missing money.

Tiffany Williams, 38, was called by prosecutors to testify in Rutledge’s trial.

Rutledge is charged with the attempted murder of Williams and the murder of Williams’ brother, Quentin Woods, 38, in the afternoon shooting Dec. 20, 2019. The shooting followed a confrontation between Rutledge, Woods and Williams that day near Rutledge’s home in the 800 block of Sherwood Place in Joliet.

Matthew Rutledge

Will County prosecutors contend that Rutledge was not justified in the shooting. Rutledge’s attorney, Chuck Bretz, has argued that his client was acting in defense of himself, his wife and his home.

Williams did not finish testifying Friday. Bretz is expected to cross-examine her Monday.

In Williams’ testimony, she said she and Rutledge had been in a “sexual relationship” and were together on the morning of Dec. 20, 2019.

During that morning, she said, Rutledge drove her to the bank, where she withdrew $4,000 in cash, and some of that money was spent on gas, food at McDonald’s and on PCP. She said she smoked PCP.

Williams said the $4,000 was from a large civil settlement she received when she was injured in a car crash.

At some point that day, Williams said her money went missing. Williams said she and Woods met up later that day and went to Rutledge’s home in search of the money. While there, Williams said, Rutledge’s wife, LeAnn, had “charged” at Woods, and Williams had to pull her off of him. Williams said she was able to check Rutledge’s vehicle but didn’t find her missing money.

Rutledge was present, and Williams said she heard Woods ask him why he was wearing black gloves. Williams said she heard Rutledge say he would show him why he had them on.

“Next thing I know, he pulled out a gun,” Williams said.

Williams said she and Woods ran away, and she heard five shots before she was shot.

Williams said she saw Rutledge shoot Woods. She said she didn’t realize she was shot at first until a woman who was driving by told her.

Williams later was treated for the gunshot wound at Ascension Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet.

Next thing I know, he pulled out a gun.”

—  Tiffany Williams, shooting victim

Williams said she didn’t have a weapon on her, and she didn’t see Woods with a weapon either. She said neither she nor Woods had made any threats toward Rutledge or his wife.

Williams said she smoked PCP while riding in Rutledge’s vehicle the morning of Dec. 20, 2019, and the drug made her feel “mellow” and “zoned out.”

Although she acknowledged that Woods used PCP, she said she didn’t see him smoke it that day.

Deborah Taylor, the mother of Williams and Woods, testified Thursday that she knew Woods was not high on PCP that day.

During Bretz’s cross-examination, he asked Taylor if it would surprise her if a toxicology report showed that her son had PCP and Ecstasy in his system.

“No, but he wasn’t high that morning,” she said.