IL - Haley Decker, 18, found dead in field, Ullin, April 2020 *Arrest*

[MajorHoople]

18-Year-Old Left For Dead In A Mushroom Field; Her Family Speaks Out

Posted: Apr 8, 2020 / 06:43 PM CDT / Updated: Apr 9, 2020 / 08:55 AM CDT

"An 18-year-old from Normal was left for dead and is now the victim of a gruesome crime.

Investigators say 18-year-old Haley Marie Decker vanished after she moved from Normal to southeast Missouri earlier this year. That was until last week, when Pulaski County Sheriff deputies say they found her body in a mushroom field in Ullin, Illinois. Her aunt, Jenny Randall spoke only to WMBD saying she’s still in shock, after what she thought was a missing persons case, took this tragic turn.

“I couldn’t process that at first,” said Randall. “I just said ‘dad what do you mean her body? People don’t say her body if the person is still alive’. I basically fell to the ground and started crying. It was very upsetting because I felt that I could’ve done more."

"Randall says it’s a call she never thought she’d get, her niece, a murder victim. According to Pulaski County Sheriff Randy Kern, Decker’s body was found nearly 300-miles from her hometown. Her killer is still on the loose."

18-year-old left for dead in a mushroom field; Her family speaks out

 

[realanastasia]

Arrest made! RIP, Haley!

‘My Heart Is Broken’: Missouri Man Charged in Murder of Teen Found Inside Suitcase

 

[Sincerely]

What a tragedy. Prayers to her family and loved ones.

 

[MajorHoople]

Remembering Haley: Tumultuous Life Cut Short

"In the fifth grade, Haley Marie Decker wrote a letter to her future self.

“I will be loyal and have a lot of spirit,” she wrote in neatly penciled handwriting on a piece of lined paper torn from a spiral notebook.

Then 10 years old, she wrote that she would be a great person in high school and have others look up to her, then go on to be a lawyer with a kid and a husband who took good care of her and made her happy.

That letter arrived at her father’s home in Chatham last year as Haley should have been preparing to finish high school.

By then, the bright-eyed girl was years into addiction and behavioral issues that no one could save her from, no matter how hard they tried."

Much, much more in the article …

 

[Caring1]

March 13, 2024

Illinois State Police said James A. Merritt, 35 of Morehouse, Missouri, was sentenced to life for murder in the second degree, 20 years for armed criminal action, four years for tampering with physical evidence and five years for trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. He also faces a $25,000 fee.

35-Year-Old Sentenced For Murder After Body Found in Southern Illinois in 2020

PULASKI COUNTY, Ill. -- A 35-year-old man was sentenced to dozens of years in jail in relation to a death investigation from 2020 when a body was found in Pulaski

www.wsiltv.com