Jesus Zambrano, Ex-Murder Defendant, Shoots Man In Groin: Police

JOLIET, IL — Deputies at the Will County Sheriff's Office arrested former Joliet murder defendant Jesus E. Zambrano on Wednesday morning in connection with new criminal charges of aggravated battery involving the discharge of a gun.

Zambrano, now 31, was booked into county custody around 10:45 a.m. Zambrano lives in the 1000 block of Joliet's North Raynor Avenue. The Joliet resident was taken into custody on a bench warrant, and his bail was set at $500,000.

The shooting happened on Ma7 5, jail records show.

Last month, Joliet Patch reported that a 31-year-old Joliet man remained hospitalized in critical condition after being shot several times around 8 p.m. on May 7 near North Raynor Avenue and Hutchins Street in the city of Joliet. Joliet Fire Department paramedics found the victim lying in the street. The Joliet Fire Department's ambulance rushed the shooting victim to AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center.

According to Joliet Police Sgt. Dwayne English, police found the shooting victim in the 1000 block of Raynor Avenue with a gunshot wound to his groin.

"Further investigation determined that the male victim and male suspect became engaged in a physical altercation at this location," Joliet police said. "After the altercation had ended, the suspect fired a round from a handgun in his pocket, striking the victim in the groin.

"Detectives working this case positively identified Zambrano as the suspect."

Back on May 10, English said, a Will County judge signed an arrest warrant to charge Zambrano with aggravated battery involving a gun.

Back in August 2019, a Will County jury found Jesus Zambrano not guilty of first-degree murder in the May 22, 2009, west side shooting death of Robert Gooch, 36. The Joliet homicide victim was shot in the head inside a third-floor apartment at the Larkin Village apartment complex during an apparent lover's triangle.

Back in 2013, a different Will County jury found Zambrano guilty of murder, and he drew a 45-year prison term at the time. Then in 2016, the Illinois Court of Appeals overturned Zambrano's conviction and remanded his murder case back to Will County Circuit Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak for a retrial.

Zambrano, co-defendant, Pedro Sanchez, and a host of others who were with them in their car that pulled up to the Lois Place apartment parking lot more than 10 years ago.

Sanchez was convicted of first-degree murder, and he is serving a 61-year prison term in the case.