New details emerge in Joliet attempted murder case over July shooting

Two Joliet brothers are accused of attempting to kill their sister’s boyfriend in a July 2 shooting that apparently left him paralyzed, court records show.

New details about the shooting of the 17-year-old victim in the city’s far west side were revealed in a forfeiture complaint filed by prosecutors on Tuesday.

The complaint seeks forfeiture of a 2019 Dodge Durango that prosecutors alleged was used in the commission of the shooting in the 900 block of Shiloh Court in Joliet. That location is about a mile away from Joliet Junior College.

Nathaniel Jakes, 20, and his brother, Jathaniel “Jay” Jakes, 20, both stand charged with the attempted murder of the 17-year-old in the incident. Nathaniel Jakes was jailed on July 3 while his brother was jailed on Aug. 7.

On July 2, officers responded to the shooting and met with the Jakes brothers’ sister, who was putting pressure on her 17-year-old boyfriend’s gunshot wound, prosecutors said.

The sister told police that her boyfriend and Nathaniel Jakes got into an argument with Nathaniel Jakes’ girlfriend “about an incident that happened the day before in Chicago,” prosecutors said.

The Dodge Durango that police believed was involved in the incident had fled the scene and was last seen on Interstate 55 near Weber Road. Illinois State Police troopers pursued the Dodge Durango.

The trooper saw the vehicle was traveling “in excess of 100 mph, using both shoulders of [I-55] to maneuver through traffic and making numerous lane changes without signaling,” prosecutors said.

The Dodge Duragno was able to flee from troopers but a Chicago Police Department helicopter kept track of the vehicle, prosecutors said.

After the vehicle crashed in Chicago, police apprehended two people who were in the vehicle. One of them was Nathaniel Jakes while the other was a female passenger, prosecutors said.

On July 10, Joliet police detectives visited the 17-year-old shooting victim at a Chicago hospital. The detectives were told that the victim had been “told by medical staff that he would be permanently paralyzed,” prosecutors said.

The victim spoke to police and he told them about an argument that took place before the shooting on Shiloh Court. He saw the Jakes brothers run inside of the house and he had a “feeling they were grabbing guns,” prosecutors said.

“[The victim] began to run when he saw both brothers with guns and knew they would shoot him and not their sister,” prosecutors said.

The victim was shot in the arm and kept running but then fell when he was shot in the back, prosecutors said. The victim said Nathaniel Jakes was “over him while he was on the ground,” and he heard Nathaniel Jakes say, “He’s not dead,” prosecutors said.

The victim identified to detectives that the brothers were “the offenders who shot him,” prosecutors said.