(JOLIET, Ill.) Police say a couple's argument over another man turned into a fatal stabbing Wednesday night in a southwest suburban park.
Brittany Brooks, 21, had driven with her boyfriend, Jeramy J. Green, 23, and backed into an entrance on the south end of West Park near Thorne Street and Belleview Avenue between Joliet and Rockdale, police 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.
Brooks got out of her white 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier, 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. On Nov. 3, 2006, Brooks had Green arrested on a charge of domestic battery.
"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 said Crest Hill police have also taken several domestic battery and order of protection violation complaints from Brooks regarding 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. At 2:53 a.m. he was spotted as the passenger in a relative's car at Joliet and Washington streets, near the police station.
"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 before he was booked into the county jail.
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