Five deaths in rural Illinois town called murder-suicide

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Authorities said Saturday that five people, including three children, found dead in a small Illinois farming town were killed in a murder-suicide.

At a news conference Saturday, Livingston County Sheriff Martin Meredith would not identify whom they believed to be the shooter. A semiautomatic pistol was found at the scene.

The five were identified as Sara McMeen, 30; Daniel T. Warren, 29; Skyler Lemke, 8; Ian Lemke, 7; and Maggie Warren, 10 months, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Sara McMeen was the mother of all three children and Daniel Warren was the father of Maggie, according to Livingston County Coroner Michael Burke.

Neighbor Annelise Fiedler told the Associated Press that after hearing a round of shots Friday afternoon, she ran outside to her backyard where she saw Sara McMeen in the next yard.

McMeen was hovering over her baby. Fielder asked her if everything was alright, and “she looked at me and said, ‘No, everything is not alright,’” the AP reported.

McMeen then fired a gun at the infant, Fiedler told the AP.

Meredith, the sheriff, said the investigation is ongoing. Emington is a town of about 100 people about 80 miles southwest of Chicago.

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