MAGGIE WARREN - 10 months - SKYLER and IAN LEMKE - 7 and 8 yo - Emington IL

by twinkletoes Today at 11:27 pm
By Olivia Katrandjian

Dec 17, 2011 7:04pm

Five Dead in Suspected Murder-Suicide; Witness Says Mother Shot Baby



Five people, including three children, were shot to death in a
suspected murder-suicide in Emington, Illinois, a farming community 80
miles southwest of Chicago, officials there say.

Police have not yet identified who they believe was the shooter, but a
neighbor said today she saw Sara McMeen, 30, shoot her 10-month baby
Friday before apparently taking her own life.

Neighbor Annelise Fiedler told The Associated Press that she ran out
of her home when she heard gunfire, and saw McMeen hovering over her
baby as if she had dropped her. Fiedler asked McMeen if everything was
all right.

“She looked at me and said, `No, everything is not all right,”‘ Fiedler said.

Then McMeen shot the baby, Fiedler told the AP, and Fiedler fled.

Also among the dead are McMeen’s other two children, aged 8 and 7, and her live-in boyfriend Daniel Warren, who was 29.

Investigators found three bodies in the backyard, that of McMeen, her
young daughter and her baby, and the two other bodies were found
nearby. All had been shot to death, police said.

“At 2:36 today on December 16th, 2011 the Livingston County police
dispatch received a call of shots fired in Emington, Ill., which is
located in the northeastern portion of Livingston County. Deputies
arrived and secured the scene and reported there were five victims,”
said Martin Meredith, Livingston County Sheriff, according to ABC News affiliate WLS.

Meredith said a semiautomatic pistol was recovered at the scene.

“As your sheriff of Livingston County, I want to make sure everyone
understands that you are safe and that the deputies are on the road, and
we are looking for no persons of interest at this time,” said Meredith
today.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/five-dead-in-suspected-murder-suicide-witness-says-mother-shot-baby/

Mother Shoots Her Baby At Point Blank Range, Kills Herself - Her Older Kids And Boyfriend Found Dead

Posted on Dec 17, 2011 @ 04:00PM


The Pantagraph, David Proeber / AP

By Radar Staff

An Illinois mother shot and killed her 10-month-old baby daughter at
point blank range while a horrified neighbor looked on. She then turned
the gun on herself in a chilling murder-suicide that left five people
dead.

Sara McMeen, 30, was found dead at her home in the small farming town of Emington on Friday afternoon.

Livingston County Coroner Michael Burke said that the woman’s two older children; Skyler Lemke, 8, Ian Lemke, 7, and her live-in boyfriend, Daniel Warren, 29, had been murdered as well. Warren was the father of McMeen's infant daughter Maggie.

Sheriff Martin Meredith revealed that a semi-automatic pistol was recovered at the scene and called the situation “very gut-wrenching.”

A neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told the Pontiac Daily Reader that she heard around five gunshots around 2.30pm and ran outside to see what was going on.
“I saw my neighbor in the back yard and she was wrapping her baby
daughter in a blanket on the ground,” the woman recalled. “At first I
thought maybe she had been startled and dropped her daughter. I asked
her if everything was OK. She said, ‘No, everything is not OK.’

“She was standing over the baby and she bent at the waist and shot
point-blank. I instinctively ran. I just couldn’t believe it.”

Neighbors revealed that the young family had only moved into the area
a few months ago and that while the children were delightful, they
heard arguments sometimes between the two adults.

The investigation is continuing.


http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/12/emington-mother-sara-mcmeeb-shoots-three-children-boyfriend-kills-herself-murder

Father Of Two Kids Murdered By His Ex Sara McMeen Is 'Numb, Anguished'

Posted on Dec 17, 2011 @ 06:28PM


AP/Facebook

By Radar Staff

The father of two young children shot to death Friday by their mother, has spoken exclusively to RadarOnline.com about the horrendous crime.

Brad Lemke told us that he felt “numb” at the loss of his young children; Skylar, 8, and Ian, 7.

His ex, Sara McMeen, shot her 10-month-old baby Maggie at point blank range before turning the gun on herself in a chilling murder-suicide.

Responding cops and paramedics then found McMeen's boyfriend,the baby’s father Daniel Warren, 29, and Sara’s two kids by Lemke, dead at the home in the small farming town of Emington.

It's believed McMeen had murdered Skylar, Ian and her boyfriend before killing her infant and turning the gun on herself.

Brad Lemke revealed that he shared custody of the children with Sara
since their split and was at a loss for words to describe how he was
feeling but he is devastated.

“I was very close to my children. I’m not good. I just saw them last weekend," he tells us.

The distraught father lives just over 10 miles from where his
children were killed. He says he has spoken to Sara’s family but so far
has been given little information from law enforcement.

Sheriff Martin Meredith revealed that a semi-automatic pistol
was recovered at the scene of the heinous killings and called the
situation “very gut-wrenching.”

Lemke's children were seen getting off of their school bus just a
short while before they were killed., “They were happy because it was the
last day of school before Christmas break,” McMeen neighbor Ronald
Groetsema remembered.

Another eyewitness said they saw the kids playing in the backyard at the home before they were brutally slain.

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, a neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told the Pontiac Daily Reader she heard around five gunshots around 2.30pm and ran outside to see what was going on.

“She was standing over the baby and she bent at the waist and shot
point-blank. I instinctively ran. I just couldn’t believe it.”

Sara's mother Cynthia has now released a statement:

"The family grieves over the loss of their loved ones. They realize
this (tragic) incident affects not only their family, but other families
as well. The family is drawing together during this time, relying on
God, and grieving. They would ask for your prayers for all the families
involved and would like their privacy to be honored."


http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/12/brad-lemke-father-two-kids-murdered-sara-mcmeen-emington-anguished-exclusive

Father of Emmington Shooter Killed his First Wife in 1971

December 22, 2011

The four victims of a murder-suicide in a small farming community southwest of Kankakee will be buried today.
Sara McMeen, who authorities say shot and killed her boyfriend and three children last week in Emington, Ill., before turning the gun on herself, was buried yesterday.

McMeen suffered from bipolar disorder and postpartum depression, and her mental health issues were a strain on her relationship, according to her boyfriend's mother, Wendy Warren.

Funeral services for McMeen's boyfriend, Daniel Warren, 29, and the couple's daughter Maggie Warren, 10 months, will be held at 10:30 a.m. in Fruland Funeral Home, 121 W. Jefferson St. in Morris.
Services for McMeen's two other children, 8-year-old Skyler Lemke and 7-year-old Ian Lemke, will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. in Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 325 E. Mazon Ave. in Dwight. A family spokesman said visitation will be open to the public, but the funeral afterward will be open only to family and friends.

The Tribune reported this morning that Sara McMeen was not the first member of her family to shoot and kill a loved one, according to court records.

More than 40 years ago, a decade before McMeen was born, her father shot and killed his first wife in a wooded area outside Streator, Ill., in front of the couple's 2-year-old son, Livingston County court records show. Louis A. McMeen had been discharged from a psychiatric hospital a month earlier after suffering what his doctors diagnosed as "an acute schizophrenic episode," records show. A jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity in the Jan. 25, 1971 slaying of Pamela Bradley McMeen.

In the records, McMeen told prosecutors what happened that day.

He and his wife were separated and he had taken Louis Jr. for the weekend. They all went for a ride before Louis A. McMeen was to drop off the boy with his mom. They drove to a remote area, and Louis and Pamela quarreled about getting back together — Pamela didn't want to get back together and said she was going to walk back to town, McMeen told prosecutors.

"She said I was crazy — crazy, sick," Louis A. McMeen told prosecutors, adding that his wife got out of the car with their son.

"This is where I think I might have gone black," he said.

Court records show McMeen shot his wife with a 12-gauge shotgun.

McMeen told prosecutors he put the boy in the car and went to check on his wife. The next thing he remembered is driving to the hospital.

"By the time I got to town I could see there wasn't no point in stopping by the hospital as she was dead," McMeen told prosecutors. "I had (Louis Jr.) on my lap. I wanted to get him to a safe place. I took him to the police station with me, and my mother came in and took him."

In 1973, McMeen was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was found to still suffer from "schizophrenia with suicidal and homicidal tendencies."

He was to remain in custody of the state department of mental health "as long as he continues to suffer from this mental disease," court record show.

No further documents were available as part of the Livingston County record. Louis A. McMeen remarried, and Sara was born about 10 years after the shooting.

Wendy Warren, the mother of Daniel Warren, said Sara McMeen suffered from bipolar disorder and postpartum depression after baby Maggie was born. She said Sara was not taking any medication for bipolar disorder.

"It didn't appear that she was suffering from depression," Wendy Warren said, adding that the couple had a sometimes rocky relationship, which she attributed in part to Sara McMeen's bipolar disorder. "They had seen counselors and tried to work through it. Danny loved her."

Wendy Warren said she saw Sara and Maggie the day before the shooting.

"We were talking about Christmas, and she was saying how they were getting along so good," Wendy Warren recalled. "They were happy."

She also spoke with her son about 10:30 a.m. Friday, the day of the shootings, and nothing seemed amiss.

"She just snapped. I just can't make sense of it," Warren said.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-12-22/news/chi-4-victims-of-emington-murdersuicide-will-be-buried-today-20111222_1_murder-suicide-mental-health-prosecutors