Man charged in shooting death outside his Joliet home

A Joliet man has been charged in connection with the death of a man who was found with a gunshot wound last week outside his home in the southwest suburb.

Officers were called about a person shot at 1:12 a.m. Aug. 29 in the 6800 block of Hadrian Drive in Joliet, according to a statement from Joliet police. They arrived to find 23-year-old Alexander Perez of Lockport dead in the driveway of a home with a gunshot wound to his chest.

Multiple witnesses told officers that 19-year-old Jacob Megrant, who lives in the home, may have been with Perez before he was found dead, police said. He left before police arrived.

Illinois State Police later conducted a traffic stop on Megrant and Joliet detectives responded and took him into custody, police said. During his arrest, authorities recovered three handguns and “suspected cocaine” from his vehicle.

Megrant was charged with three counts of armed violence, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, three counts of possession of a firearm by a street gang member, three counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and one count of obstructing justice, all felonies, according to the Will County state’s attorney’s office.

His bail was set at $2 million and he was being held at the Will County Adult Detention Facility, according to Will County sheriff’s office records. His next court appearance was scheduled for Sept. 20.