By Dominic Yeatman For Dailymail.Com
13:37 01 Nov 2023, updated 14:30 01 Nov 2023
- Nathaniel Huey Jr, 32, was found 650 miles from the Chicago suburb where he was wanted for the execution-style murder of a young family
- The security boss’ car crashed and burst into flames before two shots rang out
- Huey was pulled dead from the car while his partner, Ermalinda Palomo, 50, died later from her injuries at the hospital
The final grisly moments of Illinois murder suspect Nathaniel Huey Jr. were captured on film as he died inside a burning car he crashed while fleeing from police in Oklahoma.
Police bodycam footage shows officers nervously approaching his crashed SUV on an Oklahoma highway, more than 650 miles from the Chicago suburb where Huey is accused of shooting a family in their home.
On September 17, the remains of Zoraida Bartolomei, 32, her husband Alberto Rolón, 38, and their sons Adriel, 9, and Diego, 7, were found.
Huey’s car crashed into a barrier and burst into flames after police chased it along I-44 near the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Catoosa, Oklahoma, before the front passenger door swung open.
Officers heard two shots as they approached with guns drawn, pulling out the body of Huey, 32, and his fatally wounded partner Ermalinda Palomo, 50
‘Is he burnt?’ one asks.
‘Yeah, he’s DOA,’ a state trooper replies.
‘It looks to be an apparent murder-suicide with a crash,’ the officer says.
Police have refused to reveal a motive for the murder that rocked the murdered family’s Romeoville, Illinois, community on September 17. It’s also unclear if Huey had any previous connection to Oklahoma.
Palomo’s lawyer, John-Paul Ivec, said her family believes the slaughtered father may have worked at one point for Huey who ran an unlicensed security business in nearby Streamwood that was shuttered just a week before the killing.
Palomo’s daughter described Huey as a ‘very dangerous man’ and photos on his social media pages show him armed with guns, ammunition and body armor.
A court order in 2017 banned him from possessing firearm, but one picture shows Huey holding an assault rifle with what looks like a suppressor.
When a digital license plate reader spotted Huey’s 2017 GMC Envoy, police gave chase and tried to force a traffic stop.
The bodycam video shows Catoosa police pulling up behind the blazing vehicle and yelling: ‘Step out of your vehicle. Open the door and step out.’
As the fire threatened to engulf the car, they tried to smash open the closed driver’s window by firing beanbags at hit, yelling ‘less lethal, less lethal!’
‘I’m afraid of murder-suicide,’ one says as the shots ring out and they move in, finding Huey dead in the driver’s seat pulling Palomo out for treatment in the middle of the highway before rushing her to the hospital, where she died of her injuries.
Both were described as ‘persons of interest’ in the investigation that Romeoville police described as ‘not a random act’.
‘Evidence has shown us a nexus between our suspects and the victims as well as possible motives,’ said Deputy Chief Chris Burne.
‘Nothing at this point in our investigation leads us to believe that there are any other suspects.’
But the family of the victims have demanded an explanation for the execution-style murders in the home on Concord Avenue.
Zoraida’s sister Bryana Bartolomei shared a photo of the family, originally from Puerto Rico, on Facebook.
‘I want to know what happened to my nephews, my sister, her husband, and WHY?’ she wrote.
‘They were shot and killed in their home.’
Pictures show Zoraida and Alberto beaming with their two sons, one playfully holding a strand of his mother’s hair.
A fundraiser created to cover funeral expenses described their children as ‘the sweetest most innocent angels’, and friends described them as ‘hardworking people that had just bought their first home’.
‘Their kids could hug your worries away,’ the fundraiser says.
‘In just a few hours their lives, their family’s lives completely changed. The world is going to be a much dimmer place without them.’
Zoraida’s mother Lydia told DailyMail.com they were ‘so happy’ and had only bought their $250,000 Romeoville home five months ago.
She last spoke with her daughter shortly before her death on the weekend as the family settled down to watch a movie, and she could not understand why they had been targeted.
Palomo’s daughter, Cristiana Espinoza, 25, said her mother dated Huey for eight years and they lived together during that time.
CBS Chicago reported the couple was married, and on his Facebook page, Huey refers to Palomo as his ‘wife.’
Palomo’s family insisted that despite her relationship with Huey, she had nothing to do with the Romeoville murders and stressed she was in danger throughout the entire ordeal.
‘She communicated to a number of family members telling them things such as I love you, take care of my grandbabies,’ Ivec said. ‘She seemed upset.’
‘He’s a very dangerous man. He’s a huge manipulator. A huge manipulator,’ Espinoza told NBC News.
‘When I first met him, he wasn’t too bad of a guy. A couple of months ago, something switched. He was shutting all of us out, including my mom, and now this.
‘He started becoming suspicious, keeping to himself, staying in the garage.
‘He started not being himself, pushing us all away, even my mom.’
Huey was arrested in 2016 for battery and had multiple several DUIs, including an aggravated DUI in 2017 or which he spent more than a month in the Cook County Jail.
Officers asked to conduct a welfare check found the family shot dead along with their two dogs on at 9am on Sunday, September 17.
Police believe the shooting happened between 9pm on Saturday and 5am on Sunday.
An investigative bulletin was circulated by Romeoville police where Huey was described as ‘irrational and erratic’ following the killing of the family.
Children Adriel and Diego attended R.C. Hill Elementary School, a message posted by the district’s superintendent Rachel Kinder revealed.
She described their killings as a ‘senseless act of gun violence’.
‘This violent incident and loss are sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school community.’
The school provided mental health and counseling to families at the school in the aftermath of the killing.
Romeoville Mayor John D. Noak said: ‘Our entire community is grieving with the family over this tragic incident.
‘I have directed our social services staff to make themselves available to our community to help begin the healing process.’
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
