Authorities: Mother shot 3 children, boyfriend, self in Ill. town

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

A home at 104 South Street in Emington, Illinois is shown Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011 in Emington, Ill. Authorities have said five people, including two children and a baby, were killed in a murder-suicide.

(Credit: Steve Smedley,AP Photo/The Pantagraph)

(CBS/AP) CHICAGO - Illinois authorities investigating the deaths of a family in the small farming community of Emington, about 80 miles southwest of Chicago, say a mother shot her three children and live-in boyfriend before killing herself.

The murder-suicide Friday afternoon claimed the lives of 30-year-old Sara McMeen, 29-year-old Daniel Warren and McMeen's three children: 8-year-old Skyler Lemke, 7-year-old Ian Lemke and 10-month-old Maggie Warren.

Authorities previously declined to identify the shooter, although a neighbor told The Associated Press she saw McMeen shoot her baby in the family's backyard.

Livingston County Sheriff Martin Meredith said Monday that authorities found McMeen and the three children outside the home and Daniel Warren inside. Autopsy results show all five died of gunshot wounds.

Authorities are looking for anyone who spoke to McMeen or Daniel Warren before the shootings.

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by Patriotdad February 5, 2012 10:37 AM EST: Fathers are chased off, even the good ones, if momma doesn't want them around.

The vast majority of the time a woman doesn't want her children's fathers around is because she is doing something illegal or abusive of the childen. Our government's own statistics tell us this, while the government pandering for welfare votes continues to remove fathers from children's lives.

Blame the courts and our legislatures for paying the least faithless of our women to be cheap skanks and child abusers. She is a "MEAL TICKET MOMMA".

https://thepatriotdad.wordpress.com/single-mothers-gateway-to-sex-drugs-and-violence/; Reply to this comment


by kimmyj43 December 20, 2011 3:35 PM EST: This kind of thing is happening WAY too much lately. Drop the kids at a safe place and then go shoot yourself for crying out loud. Don't take them with you!!! If a person thinks they just can't live another day on this earth, get some help or something, but don't punish innocent children!!! Damn, I hate this stuff.; Reply to this comment


by ejgreer December 20, 2011 8:20 AM EST: This just breaks my heart. How selfish of the mother to kill her children, boyfriend and then herself. Why not just kill yourself? Those children and boyfriend did not deserve this....; Reply to this comment


by mecanik-2009 December 19, 2011 8:16 PM EST: Probably drug use. Crazy dopers everywhere.; Reply to this comment


by CarrollFamily December 19, 2011 6:46 PM EST: My mind and heart cannot fathom this. May they rest in peace.; Reply to this comment

by mariannpepit December 19, 2011 4:55 PM EST

This is a very bad case. I cannot understand a mother shooting her children plus her boyfriend before shooting herself. Its possible that she was very depressed because they didn't have the financial needed to care for them and the children, was he working, were they behind in mortgage payments or rent. The police should investigate more and talk to neighbors. My guess is that she just tired of life itself and decided to end it and her family. It is a shame the kids were killed. I always say if your going to take your own life leave the children alone.

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by gadfly65 December 19, 2011 9:47 PM EST: I had the same thought; the story reminds me of "The Ballad of Hollis Brown," by Bob Dylan. As GOP policies force more people into financial desperation stories like this are likely to increase.


by kainos2 December 20, 2011 6:40 AM EST: gadfly - how about not trying to advance a political agenda in the face of this tragedy? This story could be used to advance the exact opposite conclusion as well. It could be argued that liberal policies that remove the incentive for personal growth and productivity (and even penalize such productivity) and which incentivize dependence on the government lead to a poverty mindset that is difficult to escape.

by kimmyj43 December 19, 2011 4:41 PM EST

How, in God's name, could anyone, much less a MOTHER, shoot a 10-month-old baby???? HOW???? And for that matter, WHY????? I just do NOT understand people these days. Stories like this make me want to cry. :( Those poor babies. I suppose they are better off where they are now than with a mommy who could do that to them. ugh.

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by SinkingWorld December 19, 2011 5:51 PM EST: I know what you mean. I read one of these stories and wonder what could be so wrong in life that one feels the need kill three children.