Metal Pipe Attack At McKinley Woods: 3 Co-Defendants Stand Trial This Month

JOLIET, IL — It's been more than two years since Joliet Patch brought you two stories surrounding a brutal baseball bat and metal pipe attack on a man at the McKinley Woods Forest Preserve in Channahon. On Monday, all three co-defendants in the crime appeared in Courtroom 402 in front of Will County Judge Amy Christiansen. They learned that their jury trial remains on the judge's calendar, set to begin on July 28.

Back in April 2023, Patch reported that the Will County Forest Preserve Police arrested Sebastian Sternisha, then 28, of Joliet's 200 block of 2nd Avenue, plus brother and sister Heather Lloyd, then 32, and Michael Lloyd, then 30, of 25400 block of South Blackberry Lane, which in Channahon.

The Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow filed six charges against Sternisha, Heather Lloyd and Michael Lloyd: five counts of aggravated battery and one count of mob action.

According to Forest Preserve Deputy Police Chief David Barrios, the victim drove to McKinley Woods thinking he was doing a child custody exchange with Heather Lloyd, his ex-wife. Instead, as the man pulled into the parking lot, two vehicles pulled into the lot and boxed him in. Michael Lloyd and Sternisha had baseball bats and a metal pipe to attack the victim, Barrios said.

"He was scared, and they boxed him in," Barrios said of the victim.

Because the victim had his own baseball bat in his car, he used his wooden bat to shield himself from being severely hurt, according to Barrios.

Still, Michael Lloyd and Sternisha managed to strike the victim several times with their weapons, authorities said.

Since the attack happened during broad daylight in a public parking lot, other people at McKinley Woods called 911. Authorities arrested the Lloyds and Sternisha at the scene. The victim was taken to an area hospital, and he was treated and released for minor injuries.

According to Barrios, the victim "had moved back in town and wanted to re-connect with his ex."

As for Heather Lloyd, she had filed multiple order of protection petitions at the courthouse in 2022 and 2023 that were rejected by Will County's judges. Heather Lloyd wrote that her estranged husband "sent me texts, messages and phone calls today, so far there has been 64 and counting and voice recording via text. This is ongoing for months.

"When I asked him to return my daughter and for custody, his replay was 'Not if you kill yourself first don't wait. He also said that he flushed my mom down the toilet, meaning her ashes."

Heather Lloyd wrote that her husband "has a history of threatening my life. He said to me, 'You better run and hide if you see me because I'll bring you in the desert.'"

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

McKinley Woods Attack: Channahon Woman Just Filed For Divorce

Pipe, Bat Attack At Forest Preserve: 3 Joliet Area Residents Jailed