On September 17, 2023, four members of a Romeoville family were found dead in their home on the 500-block of Concord Avenue: 38-year-old Roberto Rolon, his wife Zoraida Bartolomei, 32, and their sons Adriel, 9, and Diego, 7. A family member requested a welfare check after one of the adults failed to show up for work and did not answer calls; police arrived about 8:43 p.m. and found the victims and three dogs deceased from gunshot wounds.

Investigators said the shootings were not random and occurred sometime between about 9 p.m. Saturday and 5 a.m. Sunday. Police identified two suspects: 32-year-old Nathaniel Huey Jr. and his fiancée, 50-year-old Ermalinda Palomo. Authorities say Palomo created multiple online personas posing as members of a Mexican drug cartel and convinced Huey he was in danger, which led to the killings; surveillance video reportedly showed Palomo driving Huey to the house shortly after 3 a.m. on September 16.

After the homicides, Huey and Palomo were located more than 600 miles away in Catoosa, Oklahoma, where a vehicle pursuit ended in a crash and fire; officers heard two gunshots, Huey was found dead at the scene, and Palomo later died at a hospital. The police chief described the case as a profoundly senseless act of violence with devastating effects on the surviving family and investigators.