Police found a 61-year-old woman lying in the street with a zip tie around her neck early Wednesday morning in Harwood Heights, Illinois, leading them to believe she was the victim of a fatal carjacking.
The woman, identified as Ma Operio, was discovered outside her house, CBS News Chicago reported. She was on life support until her death Sunday.
Harwood Heights police officers responded to the scene at 6:37 a.m. local time. They found Operio with a zip tie around her neck, struggling to breathe, according to a press release from the Harwood Heights Police Department. Officers began CPR after removing the zip tie, and the victim was transported to Lutheran General Hospital in critical condition.
“They said when she was laying on the pavement she was already dead,” Operio’s mother, Maria Gimeno, told WGNTV. “They revived her when they took her to the ER and then she was brain dead.”
Gimeno said her daughter had just returned home from vacation in Texas and had been cleaning her car when she was attacked.
An eyewitness told officers he heard “grunts” and saw a white male on top of a female victim on the ground beside a car with its door and trunk open. The male subject then got into the driver’s seat and fled the scene, police said.
Officers entered the vehicle information into the Flock License Plate Reader system, flagging it as a stolen vehicle. Police later received an alert via the system that the vehicle had been caught on camera in Crete, Illinois — about an hour away from Harwood Heights. Crete police were notified and located the vehicle at 9:36 a.m. according to the press release. Officers brought the suspect into custody without incident, identifying him as 24-year-old Reese E. Miller from Urbana, Illinois.(RELATED: Police Arrest Teenager After He Allegedly Committed String of 10 Armed Carjackings, Robberies)
Miller had left a knife and note in the vehicle that read, “I’m deeply sorry for hurting anyone at the moment, it seemed to be the only choice,” WGNTV reported, citing court documents.
Cook County State Attorney reviewed the case and approved two felony charges: attempted first-degree murder and aggravated vehicular hijacking, according to police. Miller appeared in Rolling Meadows Bond Court where the presiding judge denied bail. He will be detained at the Cook County Jail until his next court date Sept. 22, according to police.
An individual who strongly resembled Miller was later discovered in surveillance video walking approximately one block away from the crime scene, headed in the direction of the victim’s home at 6:29 a.m., according to police.