The man accused of covering up the death of an Antioch woman has been ordered held in the Lake County jail until trial, overriding a federal deportation order issued for his removal from the country.

Jose Mendoza-Gonzalez was turned over to the jail after a Thursday hearing where local prosecutors asked Lake County Judge Daniel Shanes to detain him as he awaits trial for allegedly concealing the death of Megan Bos.

Mendoza-Gonzalez, who is not a legal U.S. resident, had been in federal custody since July and had been ordered this week to be deported, according to authorities.

“It would not be appropriate for the defendant to be permitted to use the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency as a way to get out of facing the music in this case,” Shanes said.

Mendoza-Gonzalez, 52, is alleged to have hidden Bos’s body in a garbage container in his Waukegan backyard after he said Bos, 37, died of a drug overdose at his house in February. The discovery of the body in April ended a search by family and police for the missing woman.

Authorities have not charged Mendoza-Gonzalez with directly causing Bos’ death, though he is facing felony charges for concealing her body and not reporting the death.

He was originally charged with crimes that were not eligible for detention under Illinois law, and was released in April with conditions. In July, he was arrested by ICE agents in Chicago and has been in federal custody since.

Following the arrest, Lake County authorities continued investigating and, earlier this month, brought an additional charge – concealment of a homicidal death – which is a detainable offense.

At Thursday’s hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Jeff Facklam said detention was appropriate because Mendoza-Gonzalez is a flight risk, especially with a deportation order entered this week.

The prosecutor said that Mendoza-Gonzalez had not fought deportation and had, in fact, asked at several hearings to be returned to Mexico, where he is a citizen.

Mendoza-Gonzalez’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Jillian Kassel, said her client’s immigration issues were not relevant to his alleged offenses and should not be a factor in whether or not Mendoza-Gonzalez was detained.

But the judge agreed with the prosecution. Shanes said Mendoza-Gonzalez’s decision to seek deportation was analogous to someone on bond trying to flee, but getting caught at the airport as they board a plane.

“If this defendant’s actions don’t evidence willful flight, I don’t know what would,” the judge said.

Mendoza-Gonzalez told police after his arrest that Bos, whom he knew, had come to his house, ingested some drugs and then died while he was in a different part of his residence. He said he wrapped her body in a blanket and put it in a garbage bin, and he poured bleach on it, police said.

An autopsy did show that Bos had a potentially lethal amount of drugs in her system, but prosecutors said a cause of death could not be definitively determined because of decomposition that took place over the six weeks between Bos’ death and the discovery of her body.

Mendoza-Gonzalez is scheduled to stand trial in late January.

Bos’ mother, father and a stepsister were in court for the hearing.

“I just wanted to hug the ICE agents,” Bos’ mother, Jennifer, said afterward.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/24/death-deportation-case/