A man who claims he was wrongly jailed for nearly six years on charges related to a murder he did not commit has filed suit against the village of Hazel Crest and the police officers he has accused of being responsible for his alleged improper detention.
Jermaine Johnson filed a complaint on November 21, 2024, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Officers Hoehn, Noe Lagunas #216, D. Mitchel, Jackson #206, and the Village of Hazel Crest.
The case centers around an incident that occurred on October 19, 2018, when Taylor Garfield Jr. was murdered outside Johnson's home in Hazel Crest, Illinois. Johnson alleges that despite clear evidence proving his innocence and pointing to other suspects, he was wrongfully arrested and charged with murder by the named officers. The complaint details how forensic evidence did not link him to the crime scene and asserts that shots were fired from a location where he was not present. Despite this exculpatory evidence being available to the defendants during their investigation, they proceeded with charges against Johnson.
Johnson's ordeal began when he was taken into custody on October 20, 2018. He spent over five years in detention—first at Cook County Juvenile Detention Center until his eighteenth birthday and then transferred to Cook County Jail—until all charges were dismissed on June 18, 2024. Throughout this period, Johnson claims he suffered severe emotional distress due to intentional misconduct by law enforcement officials who acted with malice.
In his lawsuit, Johnson accuses the defendants of violating his civil rights under federal law (42 U.S.C. §1983) by engaging in illegal detention and malicious prosecution without probable cause. He also brings state law claims for malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress against both individual officers and the Village of Hazel Crest as their employer.
Johnson seeks compensatory damages for his wrongful imprisonment along with punitive damages to hold accountable those responsible for what he describes as willful violations of his constitutional rights. He also requests reimbursement for attorneys' fees incurred throughout this legal battle.
Representing Jermaine Johnson is attorney Gregory E. Kulis from Gregory E. Kulis & Associates Ltd., while the case has been assigned Case No. 1:24-cv-11991 in front of a jury trial demand.