N.C. man indicted for killing girlfriend, hiding body in Joliet Township

A North Carolina man was indicted Wednesday for killing his 22-year-old girlfriend in November and hiding her body in southwest suburban Joliet Township before going on the run.

Deiontae Shawnrico McMillian, 24, was indicted by a Will County grand jury on three counts of first-degree murder in the fatal strangulation of 22-year-old Danica Ford, according to the Will County sheriff’s office.

About 9 a.m. Nov. 12, a man was hunting on his private property in Joliet Township when he found Ford’s body tucked inside a hole and called 911, the sheriff’s office said at the time.

An autopsy revealed that she had been strangled and was set ablaze in an attempt to conceal evidence, the sheriff’s office said. Though Ford’s body was found in the shallow grave, evidence suggests she was murdered outside Will County.

Investigators responded to Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Joliet Township and noticed a memorial tattoo on Ford’s leg that helped positively identify her body and advance their investigation, the sheriff’s office said.

Ford, a dancer and hairstylist, had moved from Fatetteville, North Carolina, to live with McMillan after he was offered a job at an insurance agency in Schaumburg, the sheriff’s office said. Evidence suggests the couple was living in hotels around Cook County when they started having “domestic problems.”

That’s when McMillian killed Ford and hid her body, the sheriff’s office said.

On Nov. 21, Will County Sheriff announced a warrant for McMillan’s arrest, the sheriff’s office said. Investigators then spent “hundreds of hours” tracking the suspect from the Joliet area to Cook County and back to his home state of North Carolina.

McMillian was eventually arrested by authorities in North Carolina and transported to the Will County jail, where he remains held on $2 million bail, the sheriff’s office said. His next court date was set for March 15.