Amy Denise Warner was a beloved 23-year-old single mother, a hard worker, and a 1993 graduate of Charleston High School in Illinois. Known as an avid reader who was quick to smile and laugh, she was dedicated to providing for her two young children, a four-year-old daughter and a seven-month-old son. Amy worked as a manager at the Elder-Beerman department store in the Cross County Mall in nearby Mattoon, tirelessly building a life for her small family.
On the morning of Tuesday, June 29, 1999, a friend grew concerned after not hearing from Amy since the previous day. Around 10:20 a.m., he went to her home at 17 7th Street in Charleston, a house located just north of Jefferson Elementary School. There, he made a devastating discovery. Amy was lying partially on her living room couch, and the floor was covered in blood.
Her two children were found in the home, physically unharmed but having been there while their mother was killed.
Investigators from the Charleston Police Department and the Illinois State Police determined there were no signs of a forced entry into the residence. An autopsy revealed that Amy Warner had died from a single stab wound to her neck. She also had defensive wounds on her hands, indicating she had fought for her life. The time of death was estimated to have been about 12 hours before her body was discovered, placing the attack sometime during the night of June 28 or early morning of June 29.
The investigation that followed was extensive, with police interviewing more than 30 friends, family members, and neighbors, but the case yielded no immediate arrests. In the months that followed, Amy's family, desperate for answers, worked with the local *Times-Courier* and *Journal Gazette* newspapers to offer a reward for information. The initial amount of $3,500 grew to $10,000 by October 2000, but still, no one was charged.
A potential connection emerged in 2001 with the arrest of Anthony Mertz, a 25-year-old Eastern Illinois University student, for the murder of another young woman, Shannon McNamara. During Mertz's trial, two of his friends testified that he had bragged about killing Amy Warner years earlier, referring to her as "white trash." One friend also recalled seeing a newspaper article about Amy's murder posted on the wall of Mertz's apartment. Despite this testimony, there was not enough evidence to formally charge Mertz in connection with Amy's death. Mertz's former girlfriend provided him an alibi, testifying that he was asleep with her on the night of the murder and she would have known if he had left.
Although authorities never charged Mertz, Amy's family and even the prosecutor felt he was responsible. Amy's mother, Linda Walker, later stated, "I am satisfied with the fact that they have the right one in prison." Upon his retirement, Coles County State's Attorney Steve Ferguson, who prosecuted Mertz for the McNamara murder, admitted that while he couldn't prove it in court, "The evidence points that way" regarding Mertz's involvement in Amy Warner's case.
In the years since her death, the house where Amy Warner was killed has been torn down. The Charleston Community Unit School District purchased the property to make way for an expansion of the Jefferson Elementary campus. As of December 2021, more than two decades after she was taken from her children, no one has ever been charged with the murder of Amy Warner. Her case remains open and unsolved, a source of enduring pain for a family and community still waiting for justice.
