Joliet man found guilty of neighbor’s murder

The jury rendered its verdict on Tuesday in the case against Willis Ellis, 58, Joliet who was on trial for the May 8 shooting death of his neighbor.

A Will County jury has found a Joliet man guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of his neighbor. The jury rendered its verdict on Tuesday in the case against Willis Ellis , 58, who had been on trial for the May 8 killing of his neighbor Lyndon Hunt, 60, of Joliet. Ellis had been charged with first-degree murder but the jury found him guilty of second-degree murder.

During the trial , jurors learned Ellis had shot Hunt in the stomach with a hollow point bullet from a 9 mm handgun outside their apartments in the 200 block of Nicholson Street. Hunt was taken to Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, where he died. On the afternoon of May 8, Ellis said he was on his porch and grilling a meal for his wife and her parents for Mother’s Day weekend when Hunt had “barraged” him with insults.

Hunt had been tending to his fishing poles in the porch area, according to video of the incident. Ellis said at one point, Hunt had threatened to kill him and his family. The jury was shown video of Hunt using profanities against Ellis and taunting him.

Ellis said he saw Hunt quickly opening his folding knife during the incident and Hunt had challenged him to a fight. At the time, Ellis said he was armed with a firearm, two knives and firearm magazines containing additional ammunition. He said he bought a firearm to protect his family after a bullet went through the window of his residence in a past shooting.

Jurors were shown brief clips of the roughly 10-minute incident from a motion sensor camera. During the incident, Ellis said Hunt said he was with the Vice Lords street gang before threatening to kill him again. Ellis said Hunt had then rushed at him.

Those moments were not seen on video shown to the jury, but the jury did see the video that showed the shooting. Ellis said he pulled out his firearm and fired off a shot because he thought Hunt was going to act on his threats. The video showed Ellis standing on the porch and walking forward as he fired off a shot at Hunt, who was at the bottom of the stairway to the porch.

Ellis is heard on the video saying, “Mother (expletive)” during the shooting. Hunt falls on the ground and cries repeatedly to Ellis, “Don’t do it.” Afterward, Ellis said he called 911 and requested an ambulance.

The jury heard testimony from a Joliet police officer saying they found Hunt’s knife, folded shut, inside of his front pants pocket. Hunt was holding a cellphone and a T-shirt he had taken off at the time he was shot, according to trial testimony. During cross-examination, Ellis denied he was as “easily agitated” as Hunt even though his first words to a backhanded compliment from Hunt was “(Expletive) you,” and he had threatened to hit Hunt with an axe.

Ellis repeatedly testified he was scared of Hunt throughout his interaction with him even though he stayed on the porch to continue grilling. He went back into his apartment and then went back outside to the porch. Ellis said he was “scared at different levels.”

During the confrontation with Hunt, Ellis said he had pulled out one of his knives to show he was capable of defending himself. Ellis was heard on video laughing during the incident, but said he was “laughing out of fear.” Ellis was asked in court whether he thought about contacting his wife about Hunt’s behavior since she was supposed to be arriving home.

“I wanted to but I didn’t,” Ellis said. Ellis said he did think Hunt threatening him was an emergency, but he did not call his wife or the police when Hunt made those threats. Ellis acknowledged after his arrest , he did not tell officers or a detective about Hunt’s threats, his possession of a knife or Hunt rushing at him before he fired a shot.