3 women charged with mob action, battery of woman in Joliet

Three women have been charged with attacking another woman outside the Budget Inn Express in Joliet.

Tiala Hughes, 30, her sister Janay Amos, 33, and Akeela Jefferson, 27, were charged with mob action and battery in connection with the March 28 incident. Amos also was charged with damaging a car window.

Hughes already has been arrested, Amos surrendered herself in court Tuesday, and Jefferson wants her arrest warrant quashed Monday, court records show.

Officers responded to the parking lot of Budget Inn Express. 1806 McDonough St., at 12:45 p.m. March 28 in response to a report of a fight, Joliet police said.

Officers determined that a woman was in her vehicle when she was approached by a group of women who wanted to fight her, police said.

“It was determined that individuals among the group damaged the victim’s vehicle with a baseball bat. The victim was pulled out of the vehicle and struck, as well,” police said.

The suspects fled the scene before officers arrived, police said.

The woman who was attacked refused treatment from paramedics, police said. She petitioned for a protective order against Amos on March 31.

The woman’s petition claimed the motel manager’s drunken brother punched her in the face March 28 and there was an “altercation between my boyfriend and the manager’s brother that was posted on Snapchat.”

The woman claimed that Amos “pepper sprayed me directly in my eyes” and later “pulled up on me” with seven other women.

“I locked myself in my mother-in-law’s van, Janay broke the van driver’s side window with a metal bat and it got into my eyes. After she broke the window, she hit me with a metal bat multiple times,” the protective order said.

She further claimed that one of Amos’ friends grabbed the bat, broke another window and hit her “in the back of the head.”

“When I came to, I was out of the car and felt multiple punches on my head from seven girls at the same time, and saying, ‘Where your people at now?’ ” her protective order said.

The protective order was granted but an extension was April 21 after the woman “did not sustain her burden of proof,” court records show.

Amos surrendered Tuesday after she came to court with her attorney, Robert Lewin. She was released from jail the same day after Hughes posted her $1,000 bond, according to court records.

Jefferson’s attorney, Garth Yore, gave prosecutors notice June 18 that his client planned to motion for a bond reduction and to request that her warrant be quashed on Monday, according to court records. Jefferson also pleaded guilty June 16 to driving under the influence and was scheduled for sentencing Monday.