Eric Warren-Spears, 35, male, died on May 24, 2025, in Colchester, Illinois, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to the McDonough County Sheriff, deputies were dispatched that Saturday morning after Eric Warren-Spears called the county’s emergency line and said he was suicidal. When officers arrived, they attempted contact; he was later found dead inside his apartment on North Coal Street.
His death came four months after the killing of 23-year-old Cheyenna Decker in the same apartment complex. Authorities publicly identified Eric Warren-Spears as the prime suspect in Decker’s homicide and connected his death directly to the ongoing investigation. Local reports noted that he lived on the second floor of the complex where Decker was found and that his death effectively halted the prospect of criminal charges being filed against him.
In the months following, investigators described the Decker case as driven by stalking and said the accumulating pieces of evidence—search histories, seized cell phones, clothing, and shell casings—kept leading back to Eric Warren-Spears. In early September 2025, the sheriff stated he was “99%” to “99.9%” certain that Eric Warren-Spears was the person who pulled the trigger, while evidence continued moving through the Illinois State Police forensic laboratories.
No arrests were made in connection with Eric Warren-Spears’ death, which authorities ruled a suicide, and no one else has been charged in the Decker investigation. While law enforcement has expressed near-certainty about Eric Warren-Spears’ responsibility for the January killing, Decker’s family has publicly questioned that conclusion, underscoring that the case has never been tested in court due to the suspect’s death.
Public records and memorial listings corroborate that Eric Warren-Spears, 35, died on May 24, 2025, in Colchester, Illinois. Those entries list the date and place of death and reflect the absence of subsequent criminal proceedings following the suspect’s suicide.
