Arrest made in drug overdose death of Mount Prospect woman

A Prospect Heights man charged with concealing a homicide faces as much as two to five years in prison if convicted, an assistant state's attorney said today.

Thomas Young, 21, of 103 Prospect Court, turned himself in Monday after Prospect Heights police completed their investigation of the June 29 death of Gina Dominick, 20, of Mount Prospect, police said. It was determined she died of a heroin overdose, they said. Young was released after posting $5,000, or the usual 10 percent of his $50,000 bond, court officials said.

Young lives with his parents. A family member declined to comment today.

Police still are searching for a third person, the young man who supplied the heroin. He faces a charge of contributing to a homicidal death, police said.

Cook County Assistant States Attorney Mike Gerber said that after Young and Dominick ingested the heroin, Young fell asleep. Young told police when he woke up, he found Dominick in the bathroom. She was unconscious and had vomited on herself. Young changed her clothes, Gerber said. After deciding that she was dead, he put her in her car and drove her a couple of blocks to the parking lot at the Prospect Heights Library, where he left her, Gerber said. Dominick was found by passers-by at about 10 a.m. June 29.

Police were led to Young by library security system surveillance tapes and by phone calls and text messages between him and Dominick, Prospect Heights Detective Al Steffen said. Police had executed a search warrant at Young's home shortly after the death but had delayed filing any charges until toxicology tests were complete.

Dominick graduated from St. Raymond Elementary School in Mount Prospect in 2002. She is also a 2006 graduate of Prospect High School.

Dominick had worked at various pizza places as a manager and a waitress since graduating, according to friends.

She had completed a year at Harper College in Palatine and had intended to go back this fall.

Friends said she had aspired to become a medical or pharmaceutical technician. But she also thought about working with animals after volunteering at an animal shelter.

Young's next court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, in Rolling Meadows.