Murder To Misdemeanor: Joliet Teen Freed After Year In Jail

JOLIET, IL — At age 18, Rasean Stokes was arrested by Joliet police on first-degree murder charges in connection with a shootout involving two cars heading in opposite directions near AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical last February. Stokes was not a shooter, he was driving one of the cars, according to Joliet criminal defense lawyer Jeff Tomczak.

Six days of short of his one-year stay in the Will County Jail, Stokes was released from jail Tuesday evening. His murder charges were dismissed last week by Will County's Chief Judge Dan Kennedy.

Then, on Tuesday morning, Kennedy agreed to lower Stokes' bail from $750,000 to $25,000.

By the end of the day, Stokes' family posted the necessary $2,500 to free the 19-year-old from custody.

"There's a mother that is very happy to see her son after a year away," Tomczak told Joliet Patch on Wednesday. "We are pleased that the bail is more appropriate to what the state is offering, from a murder charge down to a misdemeanor."

At the moment, Stokes still faces two remaining felonies, but Assistant Will County State's Attorney Deborah Mills sent Tomczak a letter giving him until Feb. 25 to accept her plea bargain offer: have his client plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempted obstruction of justice and the remaining felonies will be dismissed.

Two other men remain in the county jail charged in connection with the death of 17-year-old Jeremiah Frazier, who was shot in the head on Republic Avenue last February. Tomczak said the shooter was Jeremiah Gavin, one of the passengers in his client's car.

However, Tomczak insists that Stokes is innocent and had no idea that a shootout between passengers in his car and people in the oncoming car was about to happen. The shooting happened around noon on Feb. 7, 2020.

"It's absolutely sad that a person died, but at the same time, my client should never have been charged. In my opinion, he's a victim in this, too," Tomczak said.

The Tomczak Law Group still has about three more weeks to decide whether to accept the prosecution's offer that his client plead guilty to a misdemeanor offense in connection with last year's deadly Joliet shooting.

Tomczak said his client had no prior arrests until Joliet police charged him as an accessory in the slaying on Republic Avenue.

"We're still considering whether to accept the state's offer," Tomczak said.

Joliet police booked Stokes into the Will County Jail at 2:41 a.m. on Feb. 8, 2020.

On Feb. 2, 2021, at 5:29 p.m., Stokes walked out of the county detention center.

For now, Tomczak said his client is reunited with his mother and that's where he will stay.

"He's under the close scrutiny of his mother. She's a protector," Tomczak said.

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