Charge: Villa Park man threatened judge who 'made him cry'

A Villa Park man has been indicted on charges he threatened to kill a DuPage County judge after an apparently emotional bond hearing left the defendant in tears, prosecutors said Friday.

Jonovan Brown, 20, was indicted by the grand jury Thursday on one count of threatening a public official. He remained in the county jail Friday afternoon on $100,000 bail.

Prosecutors said Brown told a police officer he would kill Judge Robert Kleeman after the judge threatened to hold him in contempt of court for being verbally disruptive at a March 12 bond hearing in Wheaton. The admonishment had Brown in tears as an officer led him back to a holding cell, at which point he made the threat, Assistant State's Attorney Diane Michalak said.

“He said he was going to kill (Kleeman) because the judge made him cry,” Michalak said. “The comment was made after he left court and was out of the judge's earshot.”

The episode capped days of mounting legal trouble for Brown, who also faces charges in three separate incidents, which took place less than a week apart, according to court records.

In one case, Brown is accused of whipping an 8-month-old pit bull with a chain and throwing the female dog against a tree on March 6. That same day, he also was charged with threatening to shoot a man and woman at a car dealership in Villa Park.

Brown was charged again on March 12 for allegedly shooting out a window at his listed address on the 500 block of North Yale Avenue with an air gun shortly before 3 a.m.

According to court records, the new charges were filed while Brown was serving probation for marijuana possession. Prosecutors are now seeking to revoke his probation.

Kleeman was not immediately available for comment. Brown is due back in court Monday.