A North Carolina man was suspected of bringing a 22-year-old woman to northwest suburban Schaumburg before killing her and discarding the body in Will County this month.
On Wednesday, Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley announced an arrest warrant for 24-year-old Deiontae Shawnrico McMillian of Fayetteville, North Carolina, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.
McMillian was charged with concealing the homicide of Danica Shernay Ford, a dancer and hairstylist who moved from Concord, North Carolina, to be with him in Schaumburg after he was offered an insurance agency job there, police said.
Local police officers in North Carolina have arrested McMillian, who was being questioned by Will County detectives, police said. His bond was set at $2 million.
At 9 a.m. Nov. 12, a man hunting on his private property in the Joliet Township woods found Ford’s body tucked inside a hole and called 911, police said. An autopsy determined she died of strangulation and was set on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence.
Though Ford’s body was found in the shallow grave in Joliet Township, evidence suggests she was murdered outside Will County, police said.
The investigation suggests the two were living as a couple in hotels around Cook County when they began having “domestic problems,” police said. That’s when McMillian allegedly killed Ford and discarded her body.
McMillian will be held at Will County Adult Detention Facility upon his extradition, police said.
