Carpentersville witness: He told my friend's mom, 'I killed her'

A man who killed himself after apparently shooting a woman to death in Carpentersville Friday night was distraught over their recent breakup, neighbors said Saturday.

Anthony Rodriguez, 39, whose last known address was in Lake in the Hills, shot himself once with a handgun sometime after 10 p.m. outside his friend's house on the 1500 block of Amarillo Drive, police said.

Police say the 39-year-old woman had been killed less than a mile away on the 100 block of Pueblo Road.

On Friday night, Jesus Ignacio was outside of his house in the same block drinking with his boss when the woman ran up to his house and asked them for help.

She needed their help because Rodriguez had told her he wanted to kill her, Ignacio said, adding that he called police at once.

About 9:40 p.m., officers were dispatched to the block for some type of domestic situation and a subject possibly having a gun. But Rodriguez reached the woman before police arrived, Ignacio said.

“She tried to run,” Ignacio said, adding that Rodriguez grabbed her by the hair and put the gun to her head.

As that happened, Ignacio and his boss ran into his house and subsequently heard two gunshots, he said.

By the time police arrived, the woman was already dead and Rodriguez had gone, he said. Rodriguez had driven several blocks to his best friend's house on Amarillo Drive.

Levi Kotlicky, 18, was at the house waiting for his 17-year-old friend Ritchie Achey to arrive when Rodriguez entered with a gun in his hand, he said. Rodriguez was friends with Achey's mother.

“He told my friend Ritchie's mom, 'I killed her,' and then he looks at me and says, 'You don't want anything to do with this. Leave,'” Kotlicky said.

Kotlicky went a few doors down and sat in a yard, then decided to get farther out of sight by walking to another friend's house a block away. “What if he wants to shoot me?” Kotlicky said he thought.

By this time, police had already arrived and began questioning Kotlicky about the homicide. As soon as they left, Kotlicky heard a shot from Rodriguez's gun.

At least two officers were on the scene and talking to Rodriguez when he shot himself, Carpentersville police Cmdr. Timothy Bosshart said. Rodriguez was transported to Sherman Hospital in Elgin Friday, where he was pronounced dead.

Blood spots still stained a portion of Achey's driveway and the base of a basketball hoop late Saturday.

Authorities were not releasing the woman's identity, pending notification of relatives by the Kane County coroner's office.

Achey said his mother had known Rodriguez and the woman since they were all teenagers. He also said Rodriquez and the woman had broken up at least two weeks ago after about six months of dating and that he had fallen into a deep depression.

Police continue to investigate.

“We're pretty sure (Rodriguez killed the woman), but we want to finish the investigation first,” Bosshart said.