Illinois Man Allegedly Killed His Ex, Her Sister And Family Dog As She Tried To Move Out

An Illinois man is suspected of gunning down his ex-girlfriend, her sister and the family dog Saturday morning while the 30-year-old woman was trying to move out of the rural home the couple had once shared.

Major Jeff Connor, the chief deputy of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, identified Adam Cobb — who died Sunday morning after an altercation with Illinois State Police — as the suspected shooter in a double homicide that claimed the lives of his former girlfriend, Jamie Joiner, 30, and her sister, Jessica Joiner, 34, according to a press conference streamed by RiverBender.com.

Connor said Jessica had flown to Illinois from California on Friday to help her sister move out of the rural Collinsville home — just 15 miles east of the Missouri state line and St. Louis — after the break up, but the day took a “tragic end” when the sisters were killed.

“They pulled up with a U-Haul, a rented U-Haul, and a car and, at some point, a disturbance took place and Mr. Cobb shot both females,” Connor said, adding that both women were shot in the “head or neck region.”

The family dog was also found dead at the scene.

Connor said authorities received a frantic 911 call at 10:26 a.m. Saturday morning.

“You can hear a female in the background screaming and then a couple of what appears to be gunshots in the background,” Connor said.

The Collinsville Police were the first to respond to the call and arrived at the home off McDonough Lake Road to find both women dead outside the home.

Connor said authorities believe that Jamie had likely placed the call to 911 because of the proximity of a phone found near her body.

Investigators later learned that there had been a “separation in place” between Jamie and Cobb, and that Jamie was in the midst of moving out of the home when the deadly interaction occurred.

Although there were no witnesses to the shootings, Connor said authorities believe it was “pretty much a domestic situation that ended in tragedy.”

Cobb was quickly identified as the suspect in the double homicide and, shortly after 1:00 p.m. Saturday, local law enforcement officers located his vehicle driving north on Illinois State Rt. 127 near Hillsboro, according to a statement from the Illinois State Police.

Officers attempted to perform a traffic stop, but Cobb allegedly took off, leading local law enforcement and the Illinois State Police on a chase. Cobb’s “partially disabled” vehicle eventually came to a stop on U.S. Route 51 just north of Pana, Illinois around 1:53 p.m.

Authorities said Cobb allegedly got out of the vehicle and “pointed a firearm in the direction” of an Illinois State Trooper, who opened fire and struck Cobb. The 32-year-old was rushed to a regional hospital with “serious, life-threatening injuries.”

Cobb died from the injuries at 4:40 a.m. Sunday morning, Connor said.

The Illinois State Police Division of Internal Investigation is now leading an inquiry into the incident.

The trooper involved in the incident was not identified by name, but authorities have said it was “a 26-year veteran of the Illinois State Police.”

Connor said although all three parties involved in the fatal shooting Saturday are now dead, investigators still plan to follow any leads and conduct a “thorough and complete investigation” into the homicides.

“Our thoughts go out to all these families, the Joiner family and the Cobb family,” he said during the press conference. “They are both going through a lot right now.”