Prosecutors still reviewing fatal shooting of Romeoville bank hostage taker

A Will County sheriff’s lieutenant’s fatal shooting of a man who took hostages at a bank last year is still under review by prosecutors, which may lead to more delays in a federal lawsuit against the lieutenant and Sheriff Mike Kelley.

It’s been more than a year since Will County Sheriff’s Lt. John Allen’s fatal shooting of Gregory Walker, 65, of Crest Hill, who was armed with a gun and took hostages at Fifth Third Bank on May 10, 2022, in Romeoville.

Walker’s surviving sister, Brenda Nash-Milton, is suing Allen, Kelley and the sheriff’s office in federal court. Her lawsuit claims Walker allowed everyone inside the bank to eventually leave unharmed and when he exited the bank he had his hands in the air when Allen shot him in the chest.

Nash-Milton’s lawsuit, filed Feb. 20, has been placed on hold since April 11 because of an ongoing criminal investigation of the incident.

As of Thursday, prosecutors with Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s Office are still reviewing the incident.

When asked why it has taken this long for a decision on charges, Glasgow’s spokeswoman Carole Cheney said the “length of time it takes to make a charging decision is based on the complexity of the specific facts and circumstances involved in a particular case.”

Nash-Milton’s attorney, Ian Barney, told the Herald-News that it seemed like “like an inordinately long investigation for a police-involved shooting.”

“I’m a little surprised it is still ongoing. I would’ve expected it to be completed by now, but I don’t know all the specifics of the investigation,” Barney said.

The international law firm Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton is representing Kelley and the sheriff’s office.

Martin McManaman, an attorney with the firm, apparently was unable to make contact with Glasgow’s office to find out about the investigation’s status or when it would be completed, according to a joint status report filed Wednesday in Nash-Milton’s lawsuit case.

I’m a little surprised it is still ongoing. I would’ve expected it to be completed by now but I don’t know all the specifics of the investigation.

—  Ian Barney, attorney for Brenda Nash-Milton, sister of Gregory Walker.

McManaman is asking U.S. Judge Sarah Ellis to keep the case on hold for either three months or within one week of the state’s attorney’s office announcement that the investigation is done.

Barney is opposing any further delays in his client’s case.

A court hearing has been set for Tuesday. Ellis may decide then whether the case should remain suspended.

The case was suspended after Ellis granted a motion from Allen’s attorney, Lance Neyland. He argued in a motion that Allen was faced with an “impossible choice” with the lawsuit.

Neyland contended that “impossible choice,” would require Allen to either claim his privilege against self-incrimination, which would prejudice him in Nash-Milton’s lawsuit case, or waive that privilege and potentially prejudice himself in a criminal proceeding.

Will County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Dan Jungles said it has been his experience that such investigations require additional work or testing that the state’s attorney’s office wants done before rendering a decision. In 2020, Jungles was named chairman of the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force, which has investigated police shootings.

Jungles said such investigations typically take a year or more for the state’s attorney’s office to render a decision.

A few other investigations of high-profile police shootings have not taken as long as the one into Allen’s shooting of Walker.

It took eight months for Glasgow’s office to decide not to file charges against the sheriff’s deputies who fatally shot Jabbar Muhammand, 21, and his grandfather, Eldred Wells, 70, on Nov. 6, 2021, in Joliet Township. The slain men’s families are suing those deputies.

The investigation of a Shorewood police officer’s fatal shooting of Jose DeJesus Hernandez, 39, on March 15, 2022, took only half the time of the latter investigation. Glasgow’s office also decided not to file charges against the officer.