Following the suicide-related death of a Colchester man in May who was connected to the January murder of Cheyenna Decker, 23, evidence – including cell phones, clothing, shell casings and more – await analysis at the Illinois State Police Forensic Science Laboratory.
According to McDonough County Sheriff Nick Petitgout, Eric M. Warren-Spears, 35, who lived on the second floor in the same Coal Street apartment complex as Decker, called McDonough Central Dispatch at 7:07 a.m., May 24 as he was threatening suicide and told the dispatcher he had a weapon. Upon arrival to the apartment two minutes later, sheriff's deputies found Spears deceased. The cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, which was confirmed by McDonough County Coroner Eric Jameson. Following his death and evidence collected at the scene that indicated he was responsible for Decker's murder, additional evidence was turned over to the state's crime lab.
'We turned numerous items over to the lab and we've simply been waiting our turn for the items to be processed and analyzed,' Petitgout explained. 'The state has one lab that is responsible for the entire state, including Chicago, so this takes time. Finding her killer was at the forefront of our work since that day she was found, and we've wanted nothing more than to find her killer so we could give Cheyenna's family final closure, as well as to give this bright, young woman peace.'
According to the Division of Forensic Sciences website's 2025 Quarterly Data Report (Quarter 1) (isp.illinois.gov/ Forensics/Reports), as of June 30, there are currently 6,555 cases awaiting 'biology' analysis, 580 cases waiting on firearms analysis and 303 for latent fingerprint analysis. The average turnaround time for a biology analysis alone is close to 200 days, or nearly 30 weeks. According to Petitgout, Sheriff's Office deputies, along with detectives from the Illinois State Police and the Macomb and Colchester police departments, had been working on the case since it occurred in the early morning hours of Jan. 21. In mid-April, officers identified Warren-Spears, who originally hailed from the Chicago suburbs, as a potential suspect following a series of search warrants obtained for social media platforms and website search engines. The resulting information showed that the suspect had searched Decker and her apartment within 24 hours of her death. Plans were in motion to obtain a warrant to search his apartment and vehicle on May 25, the day before he died, the sheriff noted. Spears had lived at the 596 Coal St., Apt. D for approximately two years after residing in Macomb, Petitgout said.
'His second-floor apartment was a 'crows nest' - he could see the comings and goings of the entire apartment complex,' Petigout shared with The Community News Brief following Warren-Spears' death. 'We believe this was nothing but an evil, cold-blooded murder.
The 23-year-old Colchester woman and Macomb High School graduate was killed sometimes during the late evening/ early morning hours of Jan. 20-21. She was found in her first floor Coal Street apartment by her mother during the afternoon hours of Jan. 21, and an autopsy performed in Peoria Jan. 22 indicated she died as the result of a gunshot wound.
