Moss and Ink local

Article Updated on December 20th 2025

Skip ahead:

1. Incident Overview
2. Initial Investigation
3. Official Press Conference
4. Comments made by Community Members
5. Court Proceedings

Incident Overview:

In the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 4, 2025, Streator police responded to a residence at 1107 East Elm Street, where they discovered the body of a woman. LaSalle County State’s Attorney Joe Navarro quickly described the death as “very suspicious,” confirming that investigators already had a suspect in mind, though the victim’s identity was withheld pending family notification.

That same evening, Streator Police Chief John C. Franklin and Deputy Chief Robert E. Wood addressed the media in an official statement. They confirmed the death but declined to provide details about the circumstances, victim, or potential motives, citing the need to notify the victim’s family first.

Pictured: Victim Jessica M. Balma

Rumors immediately started spreading that the death may be related to drugs, more specifically fentanyl, which also could have explained the involvement of TRI-DENT for the investigation.

Initial Investigation:

The next updates were given on Thursday, March 6th 2025. The victim was publicly identified as 37 year old Mother of two Jessica M. Balma who, according to law enforcement, was allegedly visiting two males at the house she was ultimately found in.

Balma’s autopsy had been completed within just 48 hours after she was found, by the LaSalle County Coroner’s Office. The alleged perpetrator was named as 38 year old married Father of 2, Joshua R. Casey, also a resident of Streator. He had been charged with Murder ( a possible 20 to 60 year sentence ) as well as the concealment of a homicidal death ( a 2 to 5 year possible sentence ). Casey’s residence at 1425 East Hickory Street, Streator, had been searched and secured by law enforcement and Casey himself was arrested later that day.

Pictured: Joshua Casey during his first court appearance

An anonymous source had confirmed to us at this time that “a closed casket will be needed” for Jessica Balma due to the extent of the injuries she sustained. 

During the investigation, more specifically on March 7th 2025, deleted text messages from the accused Joshua Casey, had allegedly been recovered. The content of the recovered messages was not made public. That same day, Casey had his first court appearance at which the assigned Public Defender D. Kramarsic requested additional time to prepare for the upcoming pre-trial release hearing scheduled for March 20th 2025. Until then, he was to remain in custody at the LaSalle County Jail in Ottawa, IL. During the hearing, Casey reportedly stared downward at the Defense table as he was admonished for his charges by the Honorable Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. 

The official press conference via the LaSalle County State Attorney Joe Navarro was livestreamed to Facebook at noon on March 10th 2025 and the following was stated:

• Jessica Balma was found rolled up inside a carpet in the messy residence, which he stated was not occupied 24/7 but rather used as a “crash pad” and “party pad”.
• The “big crime scene” was discovered after a neighbor made a 911 call. Loads of evidence, including blood and hair samples were found and subsequently sent to the Crime Lab for DNA analysis.
• Overall, due to the size of the crime scene “very many items” had been collected as evidence, aside from the blood and hair samples, and sent to the crime lab for analysis as well.
• Jessica Balma’s cause of death was officially announced as manual strangulation as determined by the Coroner.
• An official motive for the crime, while law enforcement had an idea, was not made public.
• It was stated that the arrested and accused Joshua Casey had admitted to a female witness that “he did it” but that other people were also involved, as well as having made 2 admissions to law enforcement. Note that Casey now denies ever having made any sort of admission to anyone and claims innocence. 
• A total of 17 other individuals had been interviewed over a 10 to 12 hour period with most being semi-cooperative with law enforcement.
• The owner of the crime scene property was publicly named and it was stated he had a conversation with Casey close to the time of the Homicide.
• “At least 5 search warrants” had been issued and followed through with.
• Overall, it seemed clear the people holding the press conference did not do them often, which is also a good thing. That said, it was stated someone was told the “news of Casey’s death”, an obvious misspeaking in switching the alleged perpetrators name with the victims, which upset quite a few people in the comments.
• Additional charges against Casey were not being excluded at the time of the press conference.
• Casey was supposedly looking to retain private counsel prior to his next court hearing.

The press conference ended with Navarro thanking the present Deputy Chief Robert Wood for “cracking the whip on all these people”, which seemed odd as only one person has been charged. It does make sense with everything that has been disclosed to me by sources however.

The local online comments on the Facebook live of the press conference did not disappoint:

Note that we are merely sharing publicly made comments and do not share some of these opinions!

• “Not a good or professional presentation.” -H.A.
• “He (Joe Navarro, State Attorney) should have correct info before speaking” -D.B.
• “Corruption runs deep in LaSalle County” -J.H.
• “I got secondhand embarrassment from listening to this. Wrong names, info. And I don’t think he (Joe Navarro) knew most those peoples names standing by him. smh.” -S.J.
• “You’d think a person in his position could sound a little bit more polished and professional.” -T.D.
• “Sad. Very unprofessional” -T.M.
• “He (Joe Navarro) could not even remember the Streator Detective’s name.” -L.W.E.
• “… then you got this guy (Joe Navarro) talking. Can’t barely spit out a full sentence, stammering and stuttering. um, um, um. And he forgot to mention who he (Casey) texted to get help to try and remove the body” -M.M. edited for spelling and grammar
• “Don’t get caught up on the messenger, just be glad we got the message. People make mistakes all the time in press conferences” -J.W.D.
• “Why does it seem like he was just told to speak about a case that he knew nothing about?” -E.S.
• Language Warning: “I hope everyone reads my comment. They’re (Law Enforcement) telling you bullshit. … It’s because they sell (drugs). County let the drug dealer out to be an informant to sell the drug in Streator to knock everybody out… the street. PD is giving him the drug to put on the street that’s killing people in your town” -J.W.B.
• “The main guy (Joe Navarro) talking acts like he has no clue what to say” -T.M.W.
• “Joe (Navarro) is too busy terrorizing crime victims to get his facts straight about such a tragic case before speaking. It’s apparently just who he is” -A.M.
• “Definitely condolences to her (victim Jessica Balma) family. No one deserves this.” -D.B.

The pre-trial hearing scheduled for March 20th 2025 was pushed back a week to March 27th 2025, due to Casey not yet having retained private counsel.

Just two days before that next hearing, March 25th 2025, Casey was officially indicted by a grand jury and charged with First Degree Murder and Concealment of a homicidal death. The Judge stated his denial of home confinement with an ankle monitor prior to the scheduled trial date due to the evidence having shown to him both the planning of the murder as well as the alleged attempt to hide the body. He openly called Casey a “risk to the public”.

On August 29th 2025, which was supposed to be the start of the Trial, a Status Hearing was held instead. Even individuals closer to the case attended with the mindset of a trial beginning, having not been informed otherwise. A clean shaven, both head and beard, Casey appeared in court wearing the usual orange-white jail suit and orange slippers. After the days opening by Judge Vescogni, the case was quickly introduced. Both parties agreed that Casey, represented by Mike Leonard of the Leonard Trial Lawyers based out of Chicago, will plead ‘Not Guilty’, and the next Status Hearing has been scheduled for October 6th 2025 at 9am, at which point a Trial date should be set. The Trial is most likely to begin in early 2026.

On October 6th, at the Status Hearing, it was decided to continue this case for yet another status hearing as requested by the Defense, which is now scheduled for December 19th 2025. Until then, the Defendant is to remain in the LaSalle County Jail.

On said December 19th Status Hearing, with a skinnier but fitter looking Casey, it was discussed that both the State and the Defense had agreed to set the matter for another Status Hearing on January 21st 2026 and both parties proposed a potential Trial Date of early May 2026.

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-Willow Moss