CHICAGO _ Police in Oak Park, along with the West Suburban Major Crimes Task Force, are investigating the deaths of two people found inside a home in the village. Officials said the deaths are considered to be under "suspicious circumstances."
On Tuesday afternoon, police confirmed the identities of the couple as Thomas E. Johnson, 70, and Leslie Ann Jones, 67. According to sources and their business website, they were married and partners in the downtown law firm Johnson, Jones, Snelling, Gilbert & Davis. Johnson's bio on the site said he founded the firm in 1984. The couple had three children.
Johnson served since the 1990s as a hearing officer for Chicago's police disciplinary panel, acting as a quasi-judge who presides over police disciplinary hearings _ trials for Chicago police officers fighting the most serious allegations of misconduct that could lead to firings or lengthy suspensions.
Over the years, Johnson oversaw some of the city's most high-profile disciplinary hearings.
Last year, he oversaw the hearings for four officers accused of covering up the investigation into the 2014 Laquan McDonald shooting. He also presided over the hearing of an officer who shot and killed 55-year-old Bettie Jones and 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier during a confrontation with LeGrier in 2016.
Johnson also presided over the hearings for four officers involved in the 1999 killing of LaTanya Haggerty, a 26-year-old computer programmer who was fatally shot by an officer when she raised a silver padlock at the cop, who thought the object was a gun.
Attorney Philip Snelling, a partner at Johnson, Jones, Snelling, Gilbert & Davis, called the news of the deaths "devastating."
"They were both extraordinary people who devoted themselves to improving society and helping others," Snelling said. "Both were Harvard law school graduates who clerked for federal judges after law school and worked at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago early in their careers. They were tireless in their efforts to help others and were lawyers of unique skill and ability."
According to Snelling, Johnson served as an attorney for coal miners seeking black lung benefits, and had an extensive background in social justice. Jones, in addition to her legal expertise, was involved in the arts council in Oak Park, he said.
"They were a tremendous asset to the legal and public communities of Oak Park and Chicago," Snelling said. "They will be deeply missed."
Fellow partner at the firm Anne Davis first met Johnson when the two were law clerks for federal district judge Thomas McMillen. Jones attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools for elementary and high school with Davis' late husband Scott.
"I met my husband because Leslie urged him to come meet people at a volleyball game where we all played," Davis said. "The rest is history. Tom and Leslie were honored guests at our wedding in 1981 and we were at theirs in 1982."
Davis said she later joined Johnson and Jones at their law firm in 1995.
"Tom and Leslie were both exceptionally gifted lawyers," Davis said. "Part of their gift was to keep it simple. Each of them could process complicated information with exceptional speed and agility, but they each had interests far beyond the law and each had a profound gift for friendship."
Recently, Johnson had worked on a lawsuit which seeks tighter regulation of gun sales. In late 2019, a federal judge allowed the lawsuit, brought by victims of gun violence in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, to proceed against the state.
The lawsuit was filed the year prior on behalf of children who suffered trauma from shootings in Austin. Johnson, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said at the time if it were to prevail, the judge could direct the state of Illinois to better enforce existing gun laws and consider other measures.
The lawsuit argues that Illinois is violating both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Illinois Civil Rights Act by not doing more to reduce gun trafficking.
The lawsuit was filed during the final days of the Bruce Rauner administration. Since then, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed a bill that provides more state oversight of firearms dealers.
Jeanne Gallo lived across the street from Johnson and Jones for more than two decades, saying their children played baseball together on teams coached by Johnson.
"Tom called me 'Coach Jeanne,' saying I've been to about 1,000 baseball games in my life," Gallo said. "They were the best neighbors. They were compassionate, they were welcoming and they were interested in helping people. They were not 'me' or 'I' people. They were 'you' and 'we' people."
With the state's stay-at-home order in place to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, Gallo said neighbors on their block would walk outside their homes each night at 8 p.m. to greet each other and sing songs in unity.
"Every night we clapped and we have musicians on our block who play trumpet or guitar," Gallo said. "We would sing a different song every night. They would come out and their dog Leo would run around. We would just go out, sing a few corny songs and go back inside. Every night we all looked forward to going outside to see our neighbors for 10 minutes and somebody took them from our family."
The couple were also very involved in the Hephzibah Children's Association in Oak Park, which provides care for neglected and abused children, as well as services for families in crisis.
"When my husband coached baseball with Tom, they made sure we had a Hephzibah kid on the team," Gallo said. "That's who they were. They were just so about other people."
According to Hephzibah executive director Merry Beth Sheets, Jones served the organization for 19 years, including 14 on its board of directors until 2015.
Former Hephzibah director of development Molly Philosophos said both Jones and Johnson were always helping those in need, saying it is impossible to count the number of lives they helped.
On Monday, Oak Park village spokesman David Powers said police were called to the home at 7:30 p.m. for a welfare check.
"Officers found two individuals deceased inside," a news release from the village said. "Preliminary information gathered at the scene indicates suspicious circumstances."
The West Suburban Major Crimes Task Force, a consortium of several police officers from west suburban Cook County, was investigating the case. The Cook County medical examiner's office has not yet officially released information about the case, though autopsies were scheduled for Tuesday.
