The young mom who hid her baby in a closet before shooting a home intruder dead has been identified as the pregnant girlfriend of a popular Chicago-area YouTuber known to flaunt his flashy cars and jewelry online, the Daily Mail can reveal.
And that has made the internet star, Corey Jones, believe that his house was targeted by the now-deceased burglar.
The woman, known only by her first name, Liv, is Jones’s girlfriend and the mother of his one-year-old daughter.
Jones, 44, known as ‘CJ on 32s’ – is a self-described custom car creator and motivational speaker with 1.17 million subscribers on YouTube. He appears on some of his videos flaunting luxe cars, such as Lamborghinis, while wearing flash jewelry adorned with diamonds.
He runs a company called 32 Gang that, funded partly by membership fees, conducts ‘giveaways’ of custom cars with 32-inch rims and sells merchandise to that subculture of car buffs.
He said Liv, who shares his modest tri-level in southwest Joliet, Illinois, is pregnant with their second child.
She was alone with their daughter last Friday night when a burglar broke into their home in Joliet.
Police say she was home with the baby around 10:15pm Friday while Jones said he was working at his shop nearby.
Corey Jones, better known as ‘CJ on 32s’ on social media, is the partner of the young mom, identified as ‘Liv’ (pictured) who shot dead a home intruder while hiding with her baby last week
Jones, 44, runs a YouTube channel and other social media accounts as a ‘custom car creator’ and is often seen flaunting his flashy cars in his photos and videos
She is said to have grabbed their daughter and a handgun and ran into a second-floor closet when a home security alert sounded indicating that someone had broken in through the front door.
She fatally shot the intruder in the head when he came upstairs to their hiding place.
The intruder, identified as 36-year-old Shelby Hurd of Chicago, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Court records show Hurd had a long rap sheet, including burglary convictions from break-ins in two other suburbs southwest of Chicago in 2022 and 2023. He had been released on parole in February.
Liv – whom Jones told the Daily Mail is temporarily out-of-state with their daughter staying with relatives – could not be reached for comment.
He said that shooting Hurd in self-defense was the first time that she had ever fired a gun.
‘Liv is good,’ he told his subscribers in a YouTube video he made Tuesday after many of his followers expressed concern for the family.
‘People might think that it’s tough on her. But, trust me, from the night that they let her go from the police station, they have been out of sight out of mind…
‘Liv ain’t takin’ it no way. Liv know what happened and what she had to do to protect hers, you know what I’m saying?’
Jones’s girlfriend, who is pregnant, was reported to have hidden with her toddler in a closet during a break-in at their home in Joliet, Illinois, and then shot the burglar dead
The man who was killed has been identified as 36 year-old Shelby Hurd
Joliet Police Sgt. Dwayne English said investigators are still looking into why Hurd chose to break into that particular residence.
Jones said neither he nor Liv knew the intruder.
He believes Hurd broke into their home looking for jewelry, sports cars and other valuables with which Jones has appeared on social media.
‘I know I’m a target, but it’s just part of the lifestyle. It’s like, what am I supposed to do, not live because I’m a target?’ he said.
He debunked online speculation that it was he who shot Hurd and blamed it on Liv to avoid charges for possessing a gun because he, too, has a lengthy rap sheet.
Jones has said he is a four-time felon classified as an armed habitual criminal.
He served more than seven years behind bars when he was a juvenile and younger man, and has spoken often on YouTube about turning his life around as an entrepreneur and online content creator.
Jones also shot down online criticism that he essentially invited the break-in by flaunting his wealth as an apparent sign of his success and by not taking measures to conceal his home address from public view.
Liv has been featured on Jones’s Instagram account being lavished with diamonds and other extravagant gifts
Jones shares a one-year-old daughter with Liv and revealed they have another child on the way
‘People say the dumbest s**t. The only people who think I’m flexing is the people that wish they had the s**t I have. I’m not flexing, guys. Flexing is literally putting s**t in your face,’ he said in the video on Tuesday.
He said he was not prepared to go into hiding because he is targeted. ‘I’m not going to stop and give up everything I worked for and go into f***ing hiding.’
Jones, who is black, dismissed criticism – mainly, he noted, from black online commenters – that shooting Hurd was unnecessary because he was unarmed apart from the screwdriver he apparently used to break into their home.
‘Ya’ll love to hate. You know what’s crazy? The white people clapping and calling her a hero, but it be your own kind that tear you down the most,’ he said.
Jones went online almost immediately after Friday’s break-in, while Hurd’s corpse was still inside their home.
‘Yes, this is my house. Y’all know what yellow tape mean. Yes, it’s a body in my house. The coroner ain’t came here yet,’ he vlogged in a short video that night.
‘They broke in my crib and, you know, there’s consequences behind actions, man. That’s all I’m gonna say.’
Jones himself has flaunted luxury car collection as well as his blinged-out watches, and huge, gold and diamond necklaces
Jones took to social media almost immediately after the break-in to address the incident, indicating Hurd’s corpse was still inside their home
He later spoke about the fatal home invasion in a lengthier video on YouTube, firing back at critics who claimed he invited the break-in by flaunting his bling so publicly
In the much longer YouTube video this week, he shot back at critics who blasted him for exploiting the incident or making light of Hurd’s killing.
‘People die every day. Life goes on. That’s just the reality of life. One day you not gonna be here. I’m not gonna be here. That’s just life,’ he said.
Later in that video, he acknowledged being rattled by the incident, adding: ‘I can’t show no weakness.
‘I can’t f***ing be around here with my head hanging down because I gotta be strong for the people that need me to be strong,’ he said.
‘But if you play, you pay. That’s how that s**t go, and that’s how it should always go for anybody.
Hurd had a lengthy criminal history and was a serial burglar. He broke into his final victim’s home wearing gloves and carrying a screwdriver. The above Facebook post was made shortly after he was released on parole for robbery charges in February
Jones told the Daily Mail he has hired a lawyer since Hurd’s killing, but wouldn’t say why.
With his criminal history, he could be facing charges for possessing a weapon in his home.
A person convicted of a felony generally loses their right to own a firearm in Illinois.
‘As long as my family good, guys, I’m gonna keep living. And if there’s any type of consequences or anything that come behind this, I’m fine with this,’ he said.
Although most online commenters have expressed concern and support for Liv and Jones, he sniped back at those judging and wishing ill will upon him since Friday.
‘You don’t know the real Corey Jones. You know CJ on 32s,’ he said on the video.
‘You gotta protect you,’ he continued. ‘All I can say to you is to make sure that your people know what to do if somebody break into your house.’
