DANVILLE, Ill. (ECWd) —
Danville Ward 1 Alderman Jaleel Jones, 30, was granted pretrial release Thursday morning following his arrest Wednesday night on a charge of reckless discharge of a firearm. [News Channel 20][Vermilion County Watchdog]
According to WCIA, Danville police officers responded around 7:25 p.m. on Wednesday, November 11, to reports of gunshots in the area of Fera and English streets. Upon arriving at nearby Spring Hill Cemetery, officers found Jones sitting on top of his parked car smoking marijuana. [WAND]
During today’s arraignment and detention hearing in the Vermilion County circuit court, Jones appeared with a public defender. Prosecutors revealed that Jones initially told responding officers the shots had come from the south. However, police spotted shell casings on the ground near his vehicle. When questioned about the casings, Jones reportedly admitted to firing the shots after being spooked by a deer, noting that he placed his gun in the trunk when he heard police sirens approaching. Officers reported seeing a limping deer nearby and subsequently recovered a firearm from inside the vehicle. [1]
One count of reckless discharge of a firearm, a Class 4 Felony, was filed against Jones. Because the offense is non-detainable under Illinois law, the judge granted Jones pretrial release. As conditions of his release, Jones was ordered to surrender his Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card and firearms to the sheriff’s office and to refrain from possessing any weapons. [1]
Connection to Prior Edgar County Incident [ECWd]
The arrest comes seven months after Jones was at the center of, and victim of, a high-profile alleged racially motivated shooting in Edgar County. As extensively documented by the Edgar County Watchdogs, Jones and two cousins were fishing at White Oak Park in Paris, Illinois, on the night of April 3, 2026, when three men—brothers Jordan and Jesse Kollman, along with Jayden Reynolds—approached them in a pickup truck, shouted racial slurs, and fired a shotgun. [1, 2, 3]
That incident resulted in hate crime and attempted murder charges against the assailants, as well as scrutiny over the Edgar County 911 dispatch response. According to court records reported by Edgar County Watchdogs, Jordan Kollman and Jesse Kollman both pleaded guilty in August 2026 to charges stemming from the park attack, receiving sentences of 11 years and 3.5 years, respectively, with Reynold’s case pending. [1, 2]
The investigation into Wednesday night’s incident in Danville remains ongoing. Police are asking anyone with additional information to contact the Danville Police Department at 217-431-2250 or Vermilion County Crime Stoppers at 217-446-8477.
