A man who was a suspect in the murder of a Colchester woman early this year has taken his own life.
Erick Warren Spears, 35, called the county’s emergency dispatch center at around 7 a.m. on Saturday, May 24, saying he was suicidal.
McDonough County Sheriff Nick Petitgout said deputies went to his home and tried to contact him. They then entered the apartment and found his body.
Spears lived at 596 N. Coal St. in Colchester, the same neighborhood where Cheyenna Decker, 23, was found dead in her apartment at 496 N. Coal St. on January 21.
She died from a gunshot wound.
The sheriff declined to comment on a possible motive. He said investigators didn’t get a chance to interview Spears before he took his own life.
But he pointed out Decker’s apartment was on the first floor, which he said can be dangerous for a single woman living alone.
“I’ve been to a lot of different homicide classes and a lot of different continuing education classes, and that always seems to be a dangerous position for a single female. I hope people recognize that,” he said.
Despite Spears’ death, Petitgout said the investigation remains open.
“We do have more things to uncover. We have more people we need to talk to,” he said.
“If you do know something, come forward and meet with detectives and tell them what you know. We’re really looking forward to wrapping up the case, but we’re by no means done.”
He said there is still a $1,000 Crime Stoppers reward for information about the case. He said a few tips have come in since word got out on the street about the suicide on Saturday.
‘A lot of man hours. A lot of time. A lot of dedication.’
Petitgout said Spears became a suspect about a month ago.
He said investigators executed search warrants on several social media and search engine platforms. He said that led investigators to suspect Spears was involved in Decker’s death.
“Different searches that were conducted by Mr. Spears that would lead us to believe that he had intimate knowledge of the crime,” Petitgout said.
He said investigators were in the process of following those leads when Spears took his own life.
Petitgout said a lot of people worked on the case, including Illinois State Police investigators and Macomb police detectives along with detectives from the sheriff’s department.
“My three detectives, this is all they have worked on for five months. I know there are a couple Illinois State Police detectives that this is the only case they have worked on for five months,” Petitgout said.
“A lot of man hours. A lot of time. A lot of dedication.”
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