Joliet Woman's Deadly Shooting: No Murder Charges From Glasgow

JOLIET, IL — Nearly two months after Joliet's first homicide of the year, the fatal shooting of 56-year-old Sonja Underwood, Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow has chosen not to file murder charges against the man who police say told multiple Joliet detectives that he was responsible for shooting Underwood in the chin — 69-year-old Ben Rockett, who was convicted of a previous murder in 1991.

Joliet Patch obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request more than 40 pages of investigative reports from the Joliet Police Department's first homicide of 2021.

Rockett was taken into custody several hours after his live-in girlfriend's death, the morning of March 31, but Glasgow and his staff have opted not to charge Rockett in connection with Underwood's death during these past two months.

Instead, Glasgow has charged Rockett with one felony count of being an armed habitual criminal and two felony counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a gun. Rockett has remained in the Will County Jail since April 1. His bail was set at $1 million.

A Joliet Police Department spokesman directed news media inquiries about the case to the Will County State's Attorney, saying it was his understanding that Joliet's detectives wrapped up their work on the homicide several days ago.

Joliet Patch left multiple voicemail messages with the Will County State's Attorney's Office spokeswoman Carole Cheney seeking comment for this article, but she did not call back.

Just days before Rockett's 69th birthday, Joliet Police Sgt. Patrick Cardwell was one of the first officers to arrive at the two-story apartment house in the 200 block of Illinois Street, in the St. Patrick's Neighborhood Area.

Between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m., Cardwell shuffled up the stairs and knocked on the door. An elderly man answered the door, Cardwell's police report noted.

"Is everything OK?" Cardwell asked, according to his report.

Rockett began to shake his head.

"Is everything OK?" Cardwell repeated.

Rockett continued to shake his head, left to right.

Cardwell asked if Rockett's "female friend" was inside the dwelling.

This time, Rockett shook his up and down, signaling yes.

Again, the Joliet sergeant asked if everything was OK.

"No, it's not good," Rockett told Cardwell, according to the police report.

Rockett opened the door all the way, police said, and let Cardwell and Officer Jose Tellez come inside.

They walked down the hallway and past the bathroom. In the bedroom, the two officers saw a partially nude woman on the floor, covered with a comforter, according to the police report.

She had suffered a bullet hole through the side of her chin. The officers saw large pools of blood on the bedroom carpet "as if the female was moved into her position," Cardwell's police report stated.

Underwood showed no signs of life, according to Cardwell.

Rockett was ushered out of his apartment unit and put into a Joliet police car. He was driven to the downtown police station for questioning from the homicide detectives.

Long-time Joliet Police Investigator Shawn Filipiak became one of the first detectives who interviewed Rockett about the events surrounding Underwood's fatal shooting.

The following summary is gleaned from Filipiak's reports of Rockett's interview:

Around 9 or 10 p.m. on March 30, Rockett and Underwood were at their house on Illinois Street. Two friends of Underwood, a man and a woman, showed up with alcohol and stayed until 11 p.m. or midnight. When the couple left, Rockett and Underwood went to their bedroom, according to the interview report.

"He states that at one point they were in the bedroom watching movies in the bed," the Joliet detective wrote. Then, an argument erupted "because Sonja was accusing Ben of staring at Sonja's female friend ... while she was at the residence.

"Ben states that he denied this to Sonja and Sonja was making accusations that Ben may have liked her friend ... He states that the argument then became physical with Sonja grabbing Ben's cane and started to strike him about the body."

Rockett had used the walking cane for about three weeks after suffering a stroke in early March.

Rockett told detectives the next thing he did in the bedroom was retrieve a black .38 revolver handgun from their bed, according to police.

"Ben advised that he fired one shot at Sonja and (struck) her in what he believes to be the head," Filipiak wrote.

Rockett told Filipiak he thought she was shot on the right side of her face because that was where he saw blood, according to the police report.

"Ben advised that he was able to retrieve (a) wet towel to wipe her face. Ben further advised that he was trying to lift her up momentarily as she laid on the floor," the report claims.

Rockett told the Joliet detective he and Underwood had been in a dating relationship for the past three years.

Police said Rockett did not call 911 to notify the Joliet Police Department about the shooting. Instead, he waited between 30 minutes to an hour to talk on the phone with an out-of -state relative "to advise her of what happened."

Rockett told Filipiak that he had a flip phone "but it doesn't currently work," according to the interview report.

Filipiak asked Rockett, who was previously convicted of second-degree murder in 1991, about the revolver used to shoot Underwood.

"He first related that it was given to him, but then stated that the black .38 revolver was left behind at his residence by an unknown friend prior to his admittance to St. Joe's Hospital for a stroke," Filipiak wrote.

During an interview with Joliet Police Detective Jason Wolski, Rockett said he and Underwood had lived at the rental house on Illinois Street the past year, and they shared a twin bed.

Rockett told Detective Wolski that Underwood began hitting him with his cane, and that is when he remarked to her: "There's still going to be a problem on your hands. You think I'm just going to let you hurt me. That ain't going to happen," according to police.

Rockett told Detective Wolski that Underwood hit his hand, and that's when he grabbed the gun from underneath his pillow, which is where he normally keeps the gun, according to police.

"Rockett began teasing her with the gun at first," Wolski wrote. "Rockett did not know that Sonja was going to make that launch towards him and start tussling with him.

"Rockett was holding the gun in his right hand and both he and Sonja were standing up close to the bed. Sonja was swinging the cane, and Rockett told her if you don't stop, I'm going to shoot you because I'm not going to go back laying up in a hospital for a long time. If you keep it up, you're going to be in a lot of problems. Then the gun went off ... After the gun went off and Sonja yelled and Rockett yelled, he sat there and said 'I don't believe this happened.'"

When the detective asked the number of gunshots Rockett fired, he told Wolski just one, police said.

Joliet police found Underwood's body inside her bedroom around 6:45 a.m., marking the city's first homicide of 2021.

"Rockett did not call anyone. Rockett does not really use the phone and saw that somebody was calling Sonja's phone. Rockett took the phone and swiped the phone and because his sister was calling Sonja's phone ... Rockett did not call 911 because he did not know how to use Sonja's phone and his phone does not work because he has not paid the bill," police wrote.

Detective Wolski wondered why the shooting victim was naked on the bedroom floor.

"Rockett advised that Sonja was naked because they were in bed, and they both normally sleep naked," the detective wrote. "When Sonja fell down, Rockett did not think she was dead. Rockett held her for a long time. Rockett again advised he did not call anyone on Sonja's phone, Sonja's phone rang, and he answered it. No other people were in the apartment during this time."

Rockett is being represented by the Will County Public Defender's Office. His next court appearance is set for June 2 in Courtroom 503.

Sonja Underwood's funeral services were held at Minor-Morris Funeral Home on Richards Street. Read her obituary here.