Grand jury indicts Homan, who also surrenders Quincy liquor license; Evans announces she’s leaving QU

QUINCY — A hearing scheduled for Thursday morning regarding alleged liquor code violations at the Barn, 711 S. Front, was canceled after Steven W. Homan, owner of the nightclub, notified the City of Quincy that he is relinquishing his liquor license. 

However, an Adams County grand jury determined on Thursday there was sufficient evidence to move forward with an aggravated battery charge against Homan.

State’s Attorney Gary Farha said the indictment simply means the 16 members of the grand jury believe the allegations against Homan to be true. Homan’s case was one of 25 cases heard by the grand jury on Thursday. Farha said the use of grand juries instead of preliminary hearings has been a cost-saving practice in Adams County since 2017.

Homan turned himself into police on April 15. His bail had been set at $25,000, and he posted $2,500 and was released. He will be arraigned on May 5, when he will learn of the charges against him and enters a plea.

A meeting of the Liquor Control Commission was scheduled at City Hall to determine if the Barn’s liquor license would be suspended or revoked. The Barn was alleged to have been violating the city’s liquor code by allowing underage people into the nightclub. Homan told the city on Wednesday he was giving up his liquor license. The establishment now can no longer legally serve alcohol.

Quincy Mayor Kyle Moore also is the city’s liquor commissioner, giving him the authority to revoke a liquor license if a business is violating the law or is not in good standing with the city or the state.

Asked to comment about the cancellation of Thursday’s hearing, Moore referred to a three-sentence statement posted on the City of Quincy’s Facebook page that concluded with, “We thank all parties involved for bringing this portion of the investigation to a conclusion.”

The investigation by the Quincy Police Department began after an incident at the nightclub on April 4 when Jazzpher Evans, a 19-year-old Quincy University student from Joliet, alleged she was attacked by Homan, 47.

Adams County State’s Attorney Gary Farha announced April 14 that Homan had been charged with one count of aggravated battery. A charging document filed in Adams County Circuit Court alleges Homan “knowingly made physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature” with Evans, and that Homan placed his arm around Evans’ neck and “drug her for 20 seconds.”

Homan has not responded to inquiries from Muddy River News about the incident. 

St. Louis attorney Scott Rosenblum is representing Homan. Rosenblum was the attorney for rapper Nelly after he was charged with possession of drugs in 2015. He also represented former St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk, who was accused by a former girlfriend of domestic abuse in a 2003 case, and former Rams defensive lineman Leonard Little, who was driving drunk when the car he was driving ran a stoplight and killed a woman in 1998.

Chicago-area attorney Keenan J. Saulter is representing Evans. A statement from Saulter’s law firm alleges that Evans and another female QU student stood next to a DJ booth, requesting for a change in music, when Homan approached Evans and “violently pushed” her against a wall. 

“Homan then grabbed Jazz and threw her to the ground,” the statement alleges. “Homan then placed Jazz in a full choke hold and strangled her until she lost consciousness. After rendering her unconscious, Homan then dragged her lifeless body out of his establishment and slammed her to the ground, not knowing or caring if she was dead or alive.”

Evans told Chicago television station ABC7 she believes Homan attacked her because she is Black.

“The girl I was with is a white girl, and I’m obviously African-American,” she said. “We were doing the exact same thing, standing in the exact same spot, and (Homan) didn’t say a word to her. He literally had tunnel vision and came straight for me.”

Evans, who recently completed her freshman season on the Quincy University women’s basketball team, left Quincy after the April 4 incident. She described the incident to Chicago-area media days later at a news conference held at a Joliet church. Evans returned to Quincy with her parents, her aunt and her attorney to participate in a community rally on April 17 in Washington Park. 

She posted a statement on Twitter on Tuesday announcing that she had entered her name into the NCAA’s transfer portal, indicating her wish to continue playing basketball but leave QU.

“I feel as if my life is ready for another path,” she wrote on the social media platform. 

Video provided by ABC7.