A registered sex offender from Blue Island, Illinois has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and strangling a 10-year-old girl to death Saturday (July 8) while she was outside playing with her little sister.
According to a press release from the Rockford Police Department, Antonio Monroe, 44, has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping and aggravated battery for taking the life of Destiny Huggins in Rockford.
Cops said that Huggins and her 6-year-old sister were outside playing just after 12 p.m. when the abductor grabbed both of them and ran off. The younger girl was able to get away to run home and tell her mother, who then called the police. About 40 mins later, the little girl’s lifeless body was found outside a home in the 1200 block of 9th Ave. When the Rockford Fire Department arrived, they performed CPR on her and transferred her to a local hospital where she was pronounced died.
“From the time my phone rang yesterday in regards with this incident, my stomach has been in a knot,” Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd told reporters at a press conference on Sunday (July 9). “We’re not living in a time where you just leave your kids outside playing and no one to watch over them. Kids aren’t doing anything wrong, but unfortunately there’s individuals out there that will cause harm to them.”
WIFR reported that the younger sister, who was also strangled by the suspect, was treated and released from the hospital. “This is a real life nightmare with a real life monster,” Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said at the conference. “This is also one of those crimes where there’s not going to be anyone who’s not impacted.”
He continued, “I have a 7-year-old daughter, and I just don’t understand how someone has this in their being to do something like this to something as sweet and beautiful as that.”