Denny's Murder Defendant Deserves Lower Bail: Bretz

JOLIET, IL — A 25-year-old woman who has spent the past 23 months in the Will County Jail facing first-degree murder charges in connection with the Denny's restaurant parking lot slaying on Plainfield Road should have her bail reduced, according to her lawyer, Chuck Bretz of Bretz, Flynn & Associates.

Bobbie Jean Ollom is one of three people charged by Joliet police with the April 30, 2019, shooting death of 36-year-old Crest Hill resident Gregory G. Brown. She is a former Joliet resident who had been living in Seneca at the time of the Joliet homicide.

Recently, Ollom's lawyer filed a motion for a bail reduction. Bretz outlined several reasons why he believes his client's bail should be lowered from $5 million to $1 million.

Besides first-degree murder, Ollom faces charges of armed robbery and robbery. Video surveillance footage that Joliet police obtained from the restaurant showed Ollom had been inside the Denny's restaurant talking with the homicide victim prior to his violent death.

According to Bretz's motion, Ollom has significant ties to the local community, and she is not a flight risk. Will County prosecutors have "raised the issue that the defendant left the state after the underlying incident occurred," Bretz acknowledged. " This observation fails to give any weight to the fact that the defendant was compelled to leave the area by her co-defendants, who were armed, and who had just killed a man."

In 2019, Joliet Patch reported that Joshua T. Anderson and Bobbie J. Ollom were captured several days in Iowa following the Denny's parking lot slaying.

Bretz argues his client "had no active involvement in causing the death of the decedent."

Meanwhile, Ollom's codefendants Joshua Anderson and Christopher Parker, both have criminal records, and both of them face the same bail as Ollom, Bretz noted.

"There is no indication that the defendant was aware that anyone would be injured or killed ... It is particularly inappropriate and troublesome that Christopher Parker, the actual shooter, has the exact same bond as the defendant," Bretz argued.

Ollom was "completely cooperative with the arresting officers and willingly answered all of their questions pertaining to the various details of the incident underlying this case," according to her lawyer.

At the time of her arrest on first-degree murder charges, Ollom worked in a nursing home, and she was the primary caretaker for her disabled mother and grandmother. During these past 23 months, Ollom has been a model inmate at the Will County Jail, and she has been a pod worker for several months, Bretz wrote.

A hearing on the motion to lower Ollom's bail is set for April 30 in Will County courtroom 502.

Meanwhile, at a hearing April 16, a judge authorized four more prepaid phone cards for Ollom so she can remain in contact with her family members from the Will County Jail.