Chicago Area Local News

JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) ― Joliet police have a man in custody Thursday morning, on suspicions that he killed his girlfriend and left her body near a city park. Police believe the couple was arguing over another man before the fatal stabbing took place.

As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, Brittany Brooks, 21, was found with her throat slashed near West Park at 11:24 p.m. Wednesday.

Brooks' body was on the snowy ground outside of her white 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier, which was parked near Belleview Avenue and Thorne Street on the south side of West Park, just across the border with the village of Rockdale. Police believe she had driven with her boyfriend, Jeramy J. Green, 23, and backed into an entrance on the south end of the park.

"There was a struggle inside the vehicle where Brittany Brooks received several defensive wounds to her hands and arms before her throat was slashed," Chief Fred Hayes said."There was a struggle inside the vehicle where Brittany Brooks received several defensive wounds to her hands and arms before her throat was slashed," Chief Fred Hayes said. According to reports, Brooks was stabbed 34 times during the attack.

Brooks got out of her car, but collapsed on the rear passenger side of the vehicle where she apparently bled to death in the snow.

Hayes said a "clear set of footprints in the new-fallen snow" show Green walked south near Belleview and Betula avenues. A bloodhound later discovered he walked west to the 400 block of Midland Avenue, ditching the knife and calling for a ride from an acquaintance.

At 11:18 p.m., a driver passed the parked vehicle, which was still running and called police. A Rockdale officer arrived and notified Joliet police when he saw the body. Police estimate the argument occurred no more than an hour before they were notified.

Brooks was initially identified through the Cavalier's registration information. An investigation led by Detectives Chris Schott and Stephen Diehl quickly identified Green as a potential suspect because of the couple's history.

Hayes said the couple began dating in 2005. Police learned that Brooks had reported being battered by Green on Nov. 3, 2006. Green was arrested and charged in that case, the release said.

"After being driven by a relative to the hospital, (Brooks) said Green had come into her job at Carson Pirie Scott at the Louis Joliet Mall and threw a cell phone at her head," Hayes said. "As she was leaving work about an hour later at 9:30 p.m., he was waiting in the parking lot. An argument ensued, she told him (the relationship) was over and he opened her car door and punched her in the face."

Police were given a description of Green's car and he was stopped that night in the 1100 block of North Broadway.

Detectives also learned that Crest Hill police had taken several complaints from Brooks about domestic battery and violation of orders of protection by Green.

Court records indicate the couple filed orders of protection against each other in November 2007, but both of those had expired.

After getting picked up at the park, Green reportedly went to a relative's house in the 1000 block of Summit Street. Police obtained a search warrant for that residence Thursday morning.

Investigators and tactical officers set up surveillance at several locations to find Green and police began checking locations where Green was known to frequent.

But the big break came when the suspect rode by the police station at Joliet and Washington streets in a car with relatives just before 3 a.m.

Police said they arrested Green and he confessed. "Green had blood on his jacket, shirt and hands," Hayes said.

Hayes said Green confessed to slaying Brooks during an interview with detectives around the same time her autopsy began at the county morgue.

That autopsy determined Brooks died of multiple stab and incised wounds, the Will County Coroner's office said.

"He indicated this was an argument over another boy," Hayes said.

Green accompanied detectives back to West Park in an attempt to find the knife Thursday morning. The park and nearby streets were closed off as police searched with metal detectors and firefighters washed Brooks' blood from the snow.

Herald News records indicate Green was a standout reserve basketball player when he attended Plainfield High School.

The Will County state's attorney's office was expected to file felony murder charges against Green, of 1856 Asbury Circle, before he was booked into the county jail.


CBS 2's Joanie Lum and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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