Joliet man arraigned in Elwood slaying

A grand jury returned an indictment against a Home Depot warehouse employee who has been charged with fatally shooting a co-worker in Elwood.

On Thursday, Derrell Draper, 38, was arraigned on a bill of indictment that charged him with first-degree murder, armed habitual criminal and unlawful use of a weapon by felon in connection with the death of Robert Bigger, 30, of Shorewood.

Draper’s attorney, Zaid Abdallah, told Judge Dave Carlson that his client pleads not guilty to the charges. Carlson assigned the case to Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak.

Bigger’s body was found by an Elwood police officer after a truck driver contacted police shortly after 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 26 to report a suspicious or disabled vehicle on Baseline Road between Arsenal and Noel roads, Elwood Police Chief Fred Hayes said.

The officer arrived at the scene, approached the vehicle and saw Bigger dead, slumped over the steering wheel, Hayes said. Bigger had been shot multiple times.

Hayes said that Bigger’s co-worker Draper was identified by investigators as a person of interest early on in the investigation.

Draper was captured at the Justice home of his girlfriend, where he sometimes resides, Hayes said. Jail records list a Joliet address for Draper.

Officers with the Justice Police Department spotted Draper outside the 87th Avenue apartment of his girlfriend on Feb. 27, Hayes said.

“They were asked to temporarily detain him until officers with the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force arrived,” Hayes said.

The task force was assisting the Elwood police with the case.

The indictment alleged Draper intended to kill or do great bodily harm to Bigger by shooting him with a firearm.

The indictment said Draper was convicted with attempted robbery in 2005, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful use of a weapon by felon in 2004, and aggravated battery in 2013.

The killing of Bigger was the first murder in Elwood in nearly 12 years.

In April 2009, Elwood resident Lee Ponsche was charged with killing 18-month-old Halli Burton, the daughter of his fiancee, Jessie Evans. Ponshe was found guilty of Halli’s murder in December 2012 and sentence to life in prison.