Cops: Gym owner charged in business partner’s death
By Brian Stanley bstanley@stmedianetwork.com August 10, 2012 7:54PM
Updated: September 13, 2012 6:22AM
JOLIET — Police said one owner of a Joliet gym set up his business partner on a drug deal before having him killed Thursday night.
Jermain Bennett, 38, has been arrested on charges of murder, drug conspiracy and theft following the slaying of Sean D. McGinn, 39.
Bennett and McGinn operated KO Zone Boxing Club, 218 E. Cass St., where they reportedly met around 11 p.m. Thursday.
“They had brokered a deal to purchase a quantity of cocaine, but Bennett never had the drugs and planned to rob his partner with other conspirators,” Police Chief Mike Trafton said.
When McGinn arrived and parked behind the gym to meet with Bennett, he was shot twice outside the building.
“Bennett then removed a large amount of cash from McGinn’s vehicle,” Trafton said.
Nearby residents overheard the shots and called police. McGinn, of Lockport, was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:23 a.m. Friday.
Bennett was questioned by detectives before being charged Friday morning.
“There are other suspects who are currently being sought,” Trafton said Friday evening.
Bennett has marketed the gym as a haven for young people to be physical while avoiding street violence. In July 2011, Anthony Fearn, an 18-year-old bystander, was gunned down on the street outside the club after rival gangs were refused entrance to a party inside.
“I saw this kid lying there facedown. Why should anyone have to go through that? I’m just trying to do everything I can to stop this from happening to another kid,” Bennett told The Herald-News later that month.
