Dad doesn’t understand why son slain
BY Jon Seidel Sun-Times Media January 26, 2012 8:18PM
Tommy L. Crockwell
Updated: February 28, 2012 8:20AM
Johnny Rouse spent a lot of time at Craig Park while growing up in University Park — learning to play baseball and basketball there, his father said.
It’s also where he died.
Johnny “Duke” Rouse, 19, was found dead of a gunshot wound Oct. 26, launching a three-month investigation by village police and the Will County Major Crimes Task Force.
Prosecutors have charged Tommy L. Crockwell, 42, of Country Club Hills, with two counts of first-degree murder in the slaying.
Keith Rouse said he was told that his youngest child was shot in the back of his neck.
The teen had been carrying an iPod and a cell phone, but Rouse said he doesn’t understand why a man he never heard of would kill his son.
“Johnny didn’t hang in Country Club Hills, not that I know of,” Rouse said.
Crockwell was arrested Wednesday afternoon at his home in the 4400 block of Provincetown Drive and is being held under $1 million bail at the Will County Jail, police said.
Police Chief Mel Davis declined to give details of the shooting. His department has been tight-lipped about the case, which remains under investigation.
Davis did say Rouse’s murder wasn’t random, adding that “we do have motive.”
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