Mokena Man Pleads to 2001 Joliet Murder, Gets 10 Years

By Joseph Hosey

A Mokena man pleaded guilty to a 12-year-old murder just before his trial was to start Tuesday.

Marcus Jones, 32, took a 10-year prison sentence for killing 20-year-old Terrance Chandler in May 2001. Chandler was found dead outside the city limits on Patterson Road.

A jury had already been selected to hear Jones' case when he took his plea. The 10-year sentence was for second-degree murder. A charge of first-degree murder was dismissed.

"Given the facts of the case, this is an appropriate disposition," said Charles B. Pelkie, the spokesman for the Will County State's Attorney's Office.

Jones was arrested and charged with Chandler's murder in March 2012.

He was questioned following the murder and provided an alibi, which sheriff's deputies confirmed at the time. The Will County Sheriff’s Gang Suppression Unit found new information and the Sheriff’s Office re-opened the case. Witnesses were interviewed again, giving detectives repudiated stories this time around, leading to Jones' arrest.

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