Young teen pleads guilty to Crete Township murder

Possibly one of the youngest murder defendants in Will County has pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of a man killed in a Crete Township shooting.

On Dec. 30, 2022, Chaves Bradley, 25, of Hammond, Indiana, died in a shooting that was reported in the 1100 block of East 263rd Street in Crete Township. The area is to the east of Joliet and next to the Indiana border.

A 14-year-old boy was arrested and formally charged with first-degree murder after an investigation of the shooting by the Will County Sheriff’s Office.

The teen has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, said Carole Cheney, a spokeswoman for the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Cheney said juveniles sentenced on first-degree murder charges are sentenced up to their 21st birthday, and they can be paroled after serving five years, pursuant to state law.

Cheney said she was unable to provide the date on which the teen pleaded guilty and when he was sentenced.

She said state statute precludes her office from providing those dates.

No one else was charged in connection with the case, Cheney said.

The events leading to the teen’s arrest began about 9:05 p.m. Dec. 30, 2022, when sheriff’s deputies responded to the shooting.

Deputies heard from dispatch that a man had been struck by gunfire after crashing his vehicle into several parked vehicles, according to a statement in 2022 from the sheriff’s office.

Witnesses reported seeing the vehicle flee from the area where gunshots were heard before the vehicle struck the parked vehicles, police said. A 911 caller reported that a man from the vehicle had indicated to witnesses that he needed help before he collapsed on the ground, police said.

Bradley was identified as the victim.

Digital evidence at the scene indicated that Bradley was supposed to meet the 14-year-old in that area to allegedly sell the teen a large quantity of marijuana, police said.

Bradley parked his vehicle in a prearranged location near the area of 263rd Street and Greenwood Avenue before shots rang out, police said.

“Bradley was able to speed away from the scene as the [14-year-old] suspect began shooting in the direction of Bradley’s fleeing vehicle,” sheriff officials said in 2022.

Bradley’s vehicle was struck numerous times from behind by gunfire, and Bradley himself was struck once, police said.

Seven spent .40-caliber shell casings were recovered at the scene by investigators, police said.