2023 year in review: Questions remain in slaying of Romeoville family

Romeoville — Romeoville residents were shocked this fall after a local family was found killed in their home, triggering an interstate manhunt for the suspect.

Alberto Rolon, Zoraida Bartolomei and their two young sons were found dead in their house in the 500 block of Concord Avenue on the morning of Sept. 17. The discovery was made after one of the adults failed to arrive at work and phone calls went unanswered.

Police discovered the family and their three dogs all shot dead and quickly announced a “credible suspect” in the investigation, 31-year-old Nathaniel Huey Jr. of Streamwood, and identified his girlfriend, 50-year-old Ermalinda Palomo, as a person of interest.

Although a possible motive for the crime and evidence that led to Huey being a suspect was not immediately released, police in multiple states were put on alert to look for the pair in Huey’s vehicle, a GMC SUV.

On Sept. 20, police in Catoosa, Oklahoma, near Tulsa, identified the vehicle and tried to conduct a traffic stop. The vehicle, driven by Huey, fled, resulting in a police chase. The SUV eventually crashed and caught fire, and police found a man and woman dead in the vehicle.

Reports indicated that they had both suffered gunshot wounds, although the official medical examiner’s report of the incident has not yet been released.

Palomo’s family identified her as the female passenger of the vehicle through their attorney, John Paul Ivec, and said that she had been shot in the head and “had nothing to do” with the killing of the Rolon-Bartolomei family.

At the time she was announced as a person of interest, the family said she had been missing and that they suspected she had been abducted by Huey.

While Romeoville police said that the attack was targeted as Huey was announced as a suspect, more information about Huey’s connection to the family was not made available at the time.

According to a report from the Romeoville Police Department on Dec. 8, investigators had found evidence that Huey and Bartolomei had been involved in an extramarital relationship, which both Palomo and Rolon had been aware of.

The same report also revealed that Palomo was considered a conspirator in the killing and that she had helped plan the shooting, police said.

Security footage showed Huey exiting his vehicle from the passenger side the night of the murders before entering the house, and then leaving the house and reentering the passenger side door before the vehicle pulled away, police said.

Palomo was identified as the driver of the vehicle, which “digital evidence” traced from Huey’s home in Streamwood to Romeoville and back, police said.

Ivec delivered condolences to the Bartolomei and Rolon families on behalf of the Palomo family after the revelation, but police did not offer further information about the alleged “planning” of the crime or how they believed the affair may have led to the shooting.

The investigation is ongoing.