Elwood Murder Defendant Makes Dangerous Weapon In Jail: Complaint

JOLIET, IL — Four months after being arrested on first-degree murder charges in the overnight slaying of 30-year-old Robert Bigger in Elwood, Joliet convicted felon Derrell Deandre Draper has been charged with possessing contraband in a penal institution.

According to the Will County State's Attorney's Office, Draper, on Sunday, "knowingly possessed a weapon, a shank, in a penal institution, namely the Will County Adult Detention Facility."

Draper has remained in Will County's jail since Feb. 27. His bail has been set at $5 million.

In February, Elwood Police Chief Fred Hayes told Joliet Patch that the homicide victim, Bigger, and Draper, 38, were coworkers at The Home Depot warehouse at CenterPoint, and both men had just finished their shift and left work around 3 a.m.

After both men left work for a third-party contractor, Draper pulled up next to Bigger's Chevy Impala while Bigger was driving home on Baseline Road and fatally shot him, the chief said. Draper was captured within days of the homicide at his girlfriend's house on West 87th Street in Justice, Hayes said.

"We're confident we got the right guy," Hayes told Joliet Patch in February. "This is kind of a big incident for the Will County area, so it's all hands on deck."