2 Lives End At Blown Red Light On Joliet's Black Road: Jacoby Hamilton Learns His Sentence

JOLIET, IL ? Reckless homicide defendant Jacoby Hamilton, 19, pleaded guilty this week in a crash that took the lives of a Joliet husband and wife in February 2024. The 19-year-old accelerated through the red light in the middle of the night without headlights, fatally striking married couple Walter Kretzler, 65, and Roxane Holt, 59.

Unlike with other cases, Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow and his staff did not issue a press release about Hamilton's guilty plea.

Last year, Joliet Patch reported that Hamilton was traveling 66 mph in a 35-mph speed limit zone, according to the Joliet police investigation into the Feb. 18, 2024, traffic deaths.

Because of Hamilton's history of dangerous driving and his repeated pattern of skipping out on his unrelated traffic citations and criminal charges at the Will County Courthouse, the four-count reckless homicide defendant was initially ordered to remain in Will County's Jail for an indefinite period of time under the Illinois SAFE-T-Act, Will County Judge Fred Harvey ruled.

According to this week's guilty plea, the Will County State's Attorney's Office obtained one reckless homicide conviction from Hamilton and that will result in a four-year prison sentence at the Illinois Department of Corrections, but Hamilton's sentence will be served at 50 percent.

Hamilton also received credit for the time he spent in custody awaiting trial ? and on electronic monitoring, GPS monitoring or home confinement ? and that adds up to about 440 days.

Hamilton also pleaded guilty and received a concurrent four-year prison sentence for his pending felony gun crime he was already facing at the time of his double fatality wreck. As part of the plea bargain, Hamilton pleaded guilty to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and that sentence will be served at the same time as his reckless homicide conviction.

Hamilton comes from the 1400 block of the Pioneer Road apartments in Crest Hill. In connection with his crimes, Hamilton stayed in the Will County Jail from March 19, 2024 through April 4, 2024, and he has been back in the jail since March 29 of this year.

Joliet Patch previously reported that:

• At 2:06 a.m., a Joliet police officer on routine overnight patrol discovered the crash, moments after it happened at Black Road and Infantry Drive on Feb. 18.
• Hamilton was driving a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe, and his Tahoe collided with a 2007 Trailblazer on the driver's side door.
• The Trailblazer's occupants, Kretzler and Holt, were trapped inside and died instantly.
• Meanwhile, police say Joliet officer Jorge Trujillo saw Hamilton running from the driver's side door of his wrecked Chevrolet Tahoe, and his passenger also ran off and got away. According to prosecutors, Hamilton ran west, through the Busey Bank parking lot, where the Joliet officer pulled alongside him and ordered him to stop. Hamilton, then changed directions, trying to run southeast through the bank parking lot, heading east on Black Road, before Hamilton stopped and gave himself up at 733 Apollo Drive.
• "Officer Trujillo asked Jacoby Hamilton why he crashed and defendant indicated his brakes didn't stop."
• Joliet police obtained video surveillance from Busey Bank, and the video showed the married Joliet couple had a solid green light when they entered the intersection, while Hamilton's Chevrolet Tahoe did not have its headlights in use, and Hamilton disregarded the red light at Infantry Drive.

Related Joliet Patch coverage of Jacoby Hamilton:

No Headlights, 66 MPH In 35-MPH Zone, 2 Dead: Reckless Homicide Case Against Man, 19

Joliet's Horrific Double Fatal: Reckless Homicide Charges Filed

Wrongful Death Lawsuit After Blown Red Light At Black Road: Cservenyak