Joliet robbery accomplice testifies about scheme that led to slaying in restaurant parking lot

During testimony in a Will County courtroom Wednesday, an accomplice in a robbery described feeling “scared and shocked” in 2019 after their “target” was shot in the head and left lying in the parking lot of Denny’s restaurant in Joliet.

Bobbie Ollom, 29, of Seneca, testified as the key witness against Joshua Anderson, 25, of Chicago. Anderson is on trial on charges of the first-degree murder and robbery of Gregory Brown, 36, of Crest Hill, in 2019 outside Denny’s, 2531 Plainfield Road.

Ollom told the jury how Anderson, her former boyfriend, as well as Christopher Parker, 28, of Chicago, Anderson’s cousin, worked with her on the plan to rob Brown of cash.

Ollom has pleaded guilty to armed robbery. Parker has pleaded guilty to Brown’s murder.

Ollom provided step-by-step details Wednesday of how the robbery unfolded April 30, 2019, in Joliet. Prosecutors supplemented her testimony with surveillance videos, photos and text messages.

Ollom said she is a former employee of Symphony of Joliet, a nursing home that now goes by the name The Pearl of Joliet. She said she also worked as a dancer and she had a Facebook page, which is how Brown came to know her.

Ollom said Anderson and Parker were pushing her to set someone up for a robbery, and Brown was chosen as the “target.” She testified that part of the plan was for her to lure Brown by promising him sex in exchange for $850.

Ollom said the other part of the plan was that she was going to meet Brown at his house. She said she was going to leave the door unlocked for Anderson and Parker, who would follow behind her and rob Brown.

But that plan changed April 30, 2019, she said.

Ollom testified that on that day, she picked up Anderson and Parker in Chicago in her vehicle, and the trio made their way to Joliet for the robbery. But instead of meeting Brown at his house, Ollom said she had to go meet him at Denny’s because he wanted to eat there.

Ollom and Brown arrived at Denny’s in their own separate vehicles.

While at Denny’s, Ollom said she and Brown ordered their food to go and left. In an attempt to get Brown to go back to his house, Ollom said she wanted to use his bathroom. But Brown told her to use the bathroom at Denny’s, she said.

Ollom testified that she headed back inside Denny’s and contacted Anderson to ask him what she should do. Anderson told her to bring Brown to her vehicle.

Anderson and Parker were hiding in the back seat of the vehicle, she said.

When Ollom left Denny’s again, she said she spoke to Brown and told him they could “make it work” in her vehicle. Ollom said Brown headed for her vehicle, opened the door and sat down.

She said Parker said, “Give me the money,” and then she heard a gunshot. She said at the time, Parker “had the gun.” Ollom said she saw Parker pull Brown’s body out of the vehicle, drop him on the ground and rifle through his pockets.

At the time of the shooting, there were at least seven other vehicles in the parking lot and numerous vehicles passing through Plainfield Road, Ollom said.

After the shooting, Ollom said she drove to Interstate 55 to head for Chicago. Ollom described Anderson’s demeanor as “normal,” and she heard laughter coming from him and Parker.

“For me, I was very scared and shocked, and I didn’t want to speak,” Ollom said.

Ollom said Anderson and Parker split the cash they stole from Brown, and Anderson gave some of that cash to his mother.

In the aftermath of the incident, Ollom said the gun was disposed of and her vehicle was taken to a residence to get cleaned.

Ollom testified that she and Anderson had fled for Iowa because she was scared of going to jail. She said the two wrapped their phones in aluminum foil to “stop the phone pings.”

She said one of the items Anderson brought with him as they went to Iowa was his Xbox game system.

The jury was shown text messages between Ollom and Anderson where she accused him of cheating on her and she was going to back out of contacting Brown.

When Ollom ended up in police custody, she said she was being deceptive at certain points in her police interviews “to protect [Anderson].”