JOLIET, IL — Will County jurors listened to one of Joliet murder defendant Anthony Francimore’s first phone calls from the Will County Jail, informing his father that he was being charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery.
Francimore also let his father know he was present at the time of the Joliet Township murder of 20-year-old Nathan Ballard, who died around 1 a.m. on Oct. 28, 2018.
“That’s very embarrassing,” Francimore’s father told his son during the tape-recorded Will County jailhouse phone call played during Thursday’s murder trial. Now 25 years old, Francimore is accused of felony murder in the deadly shooting of the Joliet Township resident.
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According to Thursday’s jury trial testimony, Francimore told his father during the jail phone call that his co-defendant, Elijah Watson, killed Ballard after a robbery.
“This shit wasn’t ever supposed to happen,” Francimore assured his dad.
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Francimore also told his father that he planned to be in the jail for only a couple of years before his criminal case was resolved. Francimore’s father said during the jailhouse phone call that people at work had been asking about his son after learning on a website of his son’s arrest on first-degree murder and armed robbery charges.
On Thursday, the Will County State’s Attorneys explained in court that Francimore was responsible for robbing Ballard of $75. Ballard and his older brother believed Francimore would come to their neighborhood to sell them ecstasy, otherwise known to the Ballard brothers as the happy pills.
Instead, Francimore took their money and got back into his getaway vehicle. Moments later, Watson rolled down the front passenger side window, leaned out of the car and fired several gunshots, striking Nathan Ballard in the chest, killing him, according to testimony.
On Thursday afternoon, Will County Sheriff’s Detective Chris Ericksen testified how he and fellow detective Shaun Moran drove to Chicago in hopes of capturing their two prime suspects, Watson and Francimore, the day after the murder on Joliet’s far east side.
“I requested to go to the city of Chicago,” Ericksen testified, revealing that Will County Sheriff’s investigators obtained cell phone data that pinged the suspects’ phones as being in Chicago near 14th and South Karlov Avenue.
Once in Chicago, Ericksen met up with a Chicago police officer who provided assistance out of the 10th District, including Chicago police radio access and SWAT team backup.
The goal was to surround the perimeter of the getaway car for Watson and Francimore.
Sure enough, Ericksen and Moran located their suspect’s vehicle in the 1300 block of South Karlov. As the surveillance continued, Ericksen learned from Chicago police that a male had just entered the suspect’s vehicle, which began moving.
“I did observe the vehicle directly northwest of (my) vision … it turns right on 14th going westbound,” Ericksen told the jury. “The vehicle drove a very short distance and did pull over.”
Ericksen said he approached the driver’s side, and Watson rolled the window down. Ericksen and his fellow detective saw a second person in the car, a white male passenger, Francimore.
Prosecutors pointed out earlier in the trial that at no point following the homicide of Ballard did Francimore ever contact the authorities to report the slaying. After the killing, Francimore’s group of friends dropped him off, so they could attend a party in Harvey, while Francimore hid inside a car to avoid being found by Will County police investigating Ballard’s shooting on Fox Street.
Francimore and Watson were captured in Chicago at around 3:35 p.m. They were brought to District 10 police headquarters in Chicago and later transferred to the Will County Jail, where both have remained for five full years now.
Their vehicle was towed from Chicago to the Will County Sheriff’s Office, Ericksen testified.
Late Thursday afternoon, the prosecution team of Christine Vukmir, Mike Fitzgerald and Katie Rabenda informed Will County Judge Vincent Cornelius that they had finished presenting their evidence and calling witnesses.
On Friday morning, the defense will begin its case, and Francimore may take the witness stand and testify in his own defense.
Francimore’s team of defense lawyers, Will County Public Defenders Eric Berg, Tony Purrazzo and Rachel Smith, argue their client should not be held criminally responsible for Ballard’s death. They insist that Francimore had no idea Eli Watson had a loaded gun inside the car or that Watson was preparing to shoot at the Ballard brothers as the car pulled away from the Ballard brothers’ neighborhood on Joliet’s Fox Street near Highland Park.
Berg asked Judge Cornelius to enter a directed verdict, suggesting the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to convict Francimore under the felony murder theory.
The judge disagreed, telling the lawyers outside the presence of the jury that the trial evidence showed Francimore’s conduct led to the sequence of events including Ballard’s murder as the suspects fled the scene.
“The motion for a direct finding will be denied,” Cornelius announced.
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