As Bill Wheeler spoke Tuesday afternoon in his living room in the 1500 block of West Madison Street, .22-caliber bullets were embedded in the walls around him.

Troy D. Janes Jr., 20, 820 E. Joliet St., is charged with putting those bullets there Sunday night, as well as with putting bullets into another home that day in the 500 block of West Washington Street. A 15-year-old boy is also in custody. No one was hurt in either shooting. In court Tuesday, Prosecutor Greg Sticka said the gunfire was motivated by "girlfriend issues."

"I just brought my 2 1/2-month-old son back from Peoria. He was premature. He was sleeping in a bedroom when this happened," Wheeler told The Times. "He weighed two pounds and the doctors didn't give him much chance. And I bring him back to this? To be shot at?"

Two bullets lodged in the outside walls of Wheeler's home; a third round penetrated a living room window at about eye level, pierced a blind slat — the drapes were parted at the time — and punched through two interior walls before a two-by-four stud stopped it. A fourth bullet shattered a window on his van parked along the street, remaining lost inside the van, according to Wheeler. The shots were fired at about 11 p.m. Sunday. Wheeler said he was familiar with Janes.

Wheeler pointed out everyone was sleeping in his home when the shooting started, one of whom, Mike Logsdon, was sleeping on a living room couch — one bullet passed several feet away from him. None of the occupants heard the gunfire, but Logsdon said he was awakened by the window breaking on the van. They didn't know the home had been fired upon until Logsdon's mother called to tell them she heard on her police scanner shots had been fired at their address.

"The first thing we thought of was our baby," Wheeler remembered, adding it was fortunate no bullets hit the oxygen tanks for his son. No one in the home went back to sleep that night. "We're moving out. We're paranoid," Wheeler said Tuesday.

Earlier Sunday, at about 4 a.m., three .22-caliber bullets were also fired at a home in the 500 block of West Washington Street, a home occupied by Judy Snell and her 16-year-old son. One bullet tore through a living room window, drape, and interior wall, before dropping to the floor in the kitchen. A second bullet punctured a metal screen door and front door, from where it was cut out by police. A third bullet slammed into the door frame and was absorbed by the stud.

The slug that sliced through the living room at chest level whizzed a few feet past Snell, who was sleeping on the couch. She said she heard the bangs, but did not realize her house had been targeted until she got up later that morning for church and spotted her bullet-riddled curtain.

As her grandson finished installing a new front door Tuesday afternoon, Snell recalled she didn't have time to think much immediately after realizing gunfire had been directed at her house, because she called police and they quickly arrived and went to work, with her getting caught up in the flurry of activity. Snell added the suspect Janes visited inside her home several days before the shooting.

Ottawa Police Detective Kyle Booras said evidence was collected at both scenes, but evidence at the Madison Street scene quickly led the night of the shooting to Janes and the boy, who were soon taken into custody in the 800 block of DeLeon Street for unrelated reasons.

The boy was charged Sunday. On Monday, Ottawa detectives and state police crime scene investigators collected more evidence at both scenes and the same day Janes was charged. Police said the shots were fired with a revolver from a vehicle.

Janes is charged with two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and the 15-year-old boy is charged with one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm. Janes was taken to the county jail and the boy to the county detention home.The charge of aggravated discharge of a firearm is a Class 1 felony punishable by probation or prison. Janes needs $25,000 to make bond. He is being represented by the public defender's office, with his case assigned to Circuit Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. The next court hearing is set for Friday, Nov. 13.

Janes went to prison in January 2008 for burglary and was released on parole July 21, 2009. An Illinois Department of Corrections warrant for parole violation has been issued against Janes. On Oct. 22, Janes pleaded guilty to resisting police, a charge that stemmed from July 30. He was sentenced to spend one year on court supervision. Janes also spent 14 days in custody in connection with the offense. On July 30, Janes' address was listed as 825 W. Washington St., three blocks from the scene of one of the shootings. In 2007, Janes was listed as living in rural Sheridan.






 NOTE: The owner of the property at 820 E. Joliet St. told The Times after publication of this story that Janes has never lived there. Police gave The Times the 820 E. Joliet St. address.