The boyfriend of a Joliet bartender who was found fatally shot in rural Kankakee County Thursday has been charged in connection with her death, according to the Will County Sheriff's office.
Jeremy Boshears, 32, of Coal City, was charged with concealment of a homicidal death in the shooting of 24-year-old Kaitlyn Kearns, the sheriff's office said. A warrant was issued for his arrest and bond was set at $250,000, according to authorities.
"This morning, Sheriff’s detectives met with the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Kankakee County State’s Attorney’s Office in order to determine that probable cause was met for the arrest of Boshears," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
Boshears' attorney could not immediately be reached for comment and the Will County State's Attorney's office said additional charges could still be filed in the case.
Authorities said they believe Kearns had met Boshears four weeks ago while working at Woody's Bar in Joliet. She had been in a dating relationship with him for the past two weeks, officials said.
The news comes one day after the Will County Sheriff's office served a search warrant in the Joliet clubhouse of the Outlaws motorcycle gang, officials revealed. A spokesperson confirmed the warrant was in connection with the homicide of Kaitlyn Kearns, a 24-year-old Mokena woman who was found dead in Kankakee County Thursday morning.
The sheriff's office said a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee belonging to Kaitlyn Kearns was found in a rural part of Kankakee County during an overnight search. There, they say the 24-year-old's body was found dead in the back of the car with a single gunshot wound to the head.
Local
Police said Kearns "was the intended target of this homicide," adding that authorities don't believe there is any threat to the public.
An autopsy was being conducted along with further toxicology and lab results, police said.
Kearns, 24, was last seen after midnight early Monday morning at Woody's Bar, located in the 1000 block of East Washington Street, friends say.
She never made it home – where she lives with her father and sister – from her shift, Kearns’ friends said, and has not contacted anyone or posted on social media since.
Calls to her phone went straight to voicemail, they added, and she didn’t shown up to shifts at Woody’s or her other job at a restaurant in Orland Park on Monday or Tuesday.
Police said Kearns was reported missing Tuesday.
Friends added that it was out of character for Kearns to go missing, as she’s often in communication with friends and family and has a dog that she likely wouldn’t abandon.
She was last seen driving a gray 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo with a Chicago Cubs World Series sticker on the rear window, her friends said, asking anyone with information to contact local authorities.
Authorities are asking anyone with information surrounding her death to call sheriff's investigation division (815) 727-8574 or sheriff's dispatch center (815) 727-8575.
