Charges shift from one brother to the other
The victim initially named Dezuan S. Turner-Owens as the shooter, Kankakee County State's Attorney Jim Rowe said at last week's court hearing. Police arrested Dezuan, also 28 and of Bourbonnais, on the day of the shooting. About a week later, authorities determined they had the wrong brother.
On Monday, Nov. 2, Kankakee County Circuit Judge Kathy Bradshaw-Elliott dismissed the attempted murder charges against Dezuan and ordered his release from jail. The remaining charges against him in the shooting case were also dropped.
Dejour was arrested that Monday when Kankakee officers executed a search warrant in the 1700 block of East Cedar Street, according to a police statement issued Tuesday. Court records list charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, two counts of unlawful possession of a machine gun and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
Rowe said Associate Judge Andrew Purcell approved his request Wednesday to detain Dejour, who is being held at the Jerome Combs Detention Center in Kankakee.
Victim described confrontation over online comments
According to arrest reports, the victim, a 39-year-old Kankakee man, told police he was walking along East Court Street when a man he identified as Dezuan pulled alongside him in a car. He said the man confronted him about online comments and opened fire. Authorities said the victim fired back.
At the Oct. 28 hearing for Dezuan, Rowe said the victim traced the dispute to Facebook comments he had made about the suspect's upcoming battery case. The victim reported receiving repeated online threats from the suspect afterward, Rowe said.
The victim was shot in his left hand and back, with the back wound narrowly missing his spine, according to Rowe. Officers interviewed him at Riverside Medical Center after he was taken there for treatment.
Rowe also told the Oct. 28 hearing that accounts of a weapon capable of fully automatic fire were corroborated by statements from the victim and witnesses, ShotSpotter alerts and footage from local Ring cameras. A police report said officers recovered a firearm and bullets near the shooting scene and found the vehicle believed to have been involved.
Separate court records for the brothers
Court records show Dezuan was on pretrial release in a battery case when the shooting occurred. He also faced criminal damage to property and domestic battery charges connected to an earlier case.
Dejour's record includes an attempted murder charge filed in 2020 that ended in a jury acquittal. He pleaded guilty in 2021 to a felon-in-possession firearm charge filed in 2019, and he entered a guilty plea in 2019 to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Both guilty pleas resulted in prison sentences with credit for time already spent in jail.
Dejour's next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 13.
