Joliet mom, 4-year-old son shot multiple times and beaten, court documents reveal

Disturbing details of the deadly shooting of a Joliet mother and her 4-year-old son were revealed in court documents as the accused shooter was denied pre-trial release.

Joselynn Diaz Garcia and her 4-year-old son were found unresponsive with gunshot wounds in their backyard in the 700-block of Garnsey Avenue on Sunday, Jan. 25. A short time later, Joseph D. Johnson, 29, was found a short distance away with a gunshot wound, believed to be self-inflicted, to his ankle. 

He was arrested and taken to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood to be treated, and then formally charged with six counts of first degree murder upon his release Sunday.

Diaz Garcia's other son, a 9-year-old boy who has autism and is non-verbal, was found sleeping inside the home and was not injured.

Prosecutors said Diaz Garcia and Johnson had only known each other for about two weeks, having been introduced through one of Diaz Garcia's friend's boyfriend. Johnson moved in with Diaz Garcia to help pay the rent, prosecutors said, with him occupying one bedroom while she and her children lived in the other bedroom.

Diaz Garcia's friend said her phone was broken a week before her death, so she could only contact people using Johnson's phone or her son's tablet.

According to court documents, when police responded to the home in January after neighbors called 911 to report shots fired, they found Diaz Garcia and her 4-year-old son on the back porch. Neither was fully dressed, according to court documents, but both had on winter coats.

Court documents say Diaz Garcia had been beaten about her head and face, and shot five times in the head, face, arm and leg. Her son had been shot four times.

Prosecutors say Johnson was found lying behind a car in the back of the home, also not fully dressed, with an apparent gunshot wound to his lower leg. Multiple 911 callers had told police they saw a shirtless man throwing a gun near the tracks while screaming; prosecutors said officers followed footprints from where they found Johnson to the tracks and found "a brown and black short pistol version of an AK-47" along with shell casings. Shell casings were also found in the home, court documents said.

Johnson remains in custody at the Will County Adult Detention Facility as he awaits future court appearances.