Joliet murder suspect wins previous release from jail on cash bail – Shaw Local

A Joliet man charged in June with first-degree murder committed during a curfew was released from prison early thanks to money donated by his family in cases involving attempted murder and other violent crimes.

John Roy Hernandez Jr., 22, also was under a court order requiring electronic monitoring for more than a year before his arrest in connection with the recent first-degree murder case.

In that case, prosecutors charged that Hernandez and another gang member, 21-year-old Elian Raya of Joliet, killed Fernando Contreras, 23, and wounded two other men in a June 1 shooting.

Both men have been in jail since their arrests last month. Their next court appearance is scheduled for July 8, where prosecutors plan to ask both men to remain in jail.

Hernandez was last released from Will County Jail on April 8, 2023. A family member posted $7,500 toward his bond, court records show. That was about five months before cash bail was eliminated under a provision of the SAFE-T Act called the Pretrial Fairness Act.

At the time, Hernandez was charged with attempted murder, aggravated use of a firearm and aggravated battery, which are considered detention-eligible offenses under the Pretrial Fairness Act.

A provision of the SAFE-T Act that would have given prosecutors the ability to require Hernandez to remain in jail without bail was set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023. But the rule was held up for several months by an unsuccessful legal attempt by Will County District Attorney James Glasgow and multiple other prosecutors.

When Hernandez was released from prison on April 8, 2023, he was under an electronic monitoring order that required him to remain under house arrest from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., according to a court order signed by Will County Judge Carmen Goodman. The only exception was for emergency medical services.

The June 1 shooting that led to Contreras’ death was reported shortly after 11 p.m. outside a home in the 400 block of Krakar Avenue. The scene is about three miles from Hernandez’s address on Campbell Street.

About 20 minutes before the shooting, phone and video evidence revealed that Hernandez and Raya were at a gas station, according to court documents filed by prosecutors. In the minutes leading up to the shooting, the two men allegedly circled the Krakar Avenue residence twice in a vehicle, prosecutors said.

Hernandez was wearing an ankle monitoring device at the time of his June 15 arrest, Joliet police Sergeant Dwayne English said.

Neither Glasgow’s office nor the Illinois Office of Statewide Pretrial Services responded to questions about whether Hernandez’s device triggered any alerts to police at the time of the June 1 shooting. The Office of Statewide Pretrial Services handles GPS monitoring for Will County.

English said the Joliet Police Department does not inspect or monitor any devices placed on people ordered to wear them by a judge. The Will County Sheriff’s Office has no involvement with the electronic monitoring system, said Kathy Hoffmeyer, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.

Hernandez is one of more than 300 defendants in Will County who are part of the GPS program operated by the Office of Statewide Pretrial Services, according to Cara LeFevour Smith, director of the office. Smith previously served as a Cook County judge.

On Feb. 7, Hernandez transferred from the Will County Probation Department to the department’s GPS program, Smith said.

Smith declined to answer further questions about Hernandez. She cited a rule in the Code of Judicial Conduct that she said requires her office not to comment on pending lawsuits.

The Office of State Pretrial Services has a 24/7 Operations Center that “receives, tracks, and attempts to resolve all alerts and alarms received regarding the electronically monitored population,” according to a statement Smith posted on the Illinois Courts website.

Over the past four years, Hernandez has faced charges in Will County for a shooting in 2020 and two more in 2022. One of the two shootings in 2022 led to an attempted murder charge.

In 2022, he was also charged with aggravated battery and burglary.

Hernandez’s bail in those cases ranged from $50,000 to $1 million.

Some of his cash bonds were reduced by Goodman at the request of Hernandez’s attorney, Chuck Bretz, court documents show. Bretz argued that the amount of money set for his client’s bond was oppressive under state law, as well as excessive under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Court documents show Hernandez’s family members have posted reduced cash bail to help him get out of prison in 2022 and 2023.

Goodman failed to place Hernandez on electronic monitoring twice in 2022 while he was being released from prison. Court and prison records show this also happened after he was charged with attempted murder on June 30, 2022.

On March 20, 2023, Goodman ordered Hernandez to be electronically monitored. She set Hernandez’s bail at $225,000 but allowed that amount to be covered by money Hernandez’s family had already paid.

Hernandez’s bail was therefore $75,000, of which only 10% (or $7,500) was needed for his release from prison on April 8, 2023.

Goodman did not order electronic monitoring for Raya after she allowed his $200,000 bail to be lowered in the 2021 shooting case.

After Raya was charged with Contreras’ murder, Will County Assistant District Attorney Tricia McKenna said in court documents on June 25 that Raya’s bond conditions were “insufficient to prevent this crime.”

McKenna argued there were no conditions that could protect the community from Raya other than imprisonment.