$1M bond for man charged with killing parolee celebrating release

A man has been ordered held on a $1 million bond after being charged with fatally shooting a parolee Friday night in southwest suburban Minooka while he was celebrating his release from prison earlier that day.

Nathan A. Hofkamp, 29, was celebrating with family members about 11:25 p.m. when “a disturbance broke out” inside a home in the 25000 block of Canal Road in Minooka, according to a statement from the Will County sheriff’s office.

James F. Hess, 65, a “live in acquaintance” of Hofkamp’s mother, got upset and fired a gunshot, striking Hofkamp in the chest, authorities said.

Hofkamp, who lived in Minooka, was taken to Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, where he was pronounced dead Saturday morning, according to the Will County coroner’s office. The case is being investigated as a homicide, but the final cause and manner of his death was pending police, autopsy and toxicological reports.

Hess, of Minooka, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm, the sheriff’s office said. He is being held at the Will County Adult Detention Facility on a $1 million bond and is due back in court on May 4.

Hofkamp was released on parole from the Vienna Correctional Center in downstate Vienna on Friday, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records. He was serving a two-year sentence for theft and aggravated assault of a peace officer.