Murderer Hides Body In Joliet, Jury Returns Guilty Verdicts

JOLIET — A two-week-long jury trial ended this week with the Will County State's Attorney's Office and the Will County Sheriff's Office winning the successful prosecution of Danica Ford's killer: Deiontae McMillian of North Carolina.

Ford's killer chose to serve as his own lawyer during his trial rather than hire private counsel or use the taxpayer-funded Will County Public Defender's Office.

McMillian faces for a mandatory prison sentence of 20 to 60 years, to be served at 100 percent.

"Yesterday, the Will County Sheriff’s Office was pleased to learn that Deiontae S. McMillian was found guilty by a jury of his peers for the murder of Danica Ford which occurred in November of 2018," Will County Sheriff's Office Deputy Chief Dan Jungles told Joliet Patch. "In October 2019, members of the Will County Sheriff’s Office were awarded the 'Award of Excellence' at the Illinois Homicide Investigator’s Association Conference for work done regarding this case.

"This investigation was a complete, coordinated effort by over two-dozen members of the Will County Sheriff’s Office that took detectives all the way to Fayetteville, North Carolina. The Will County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office for their hard work and dedication in presenting this case and holding Deiontae S. McMillian accountable for his actions."

In January, Joliet Patch reported that McMillian was accused of taking the life of a suburban dancer, Danica Ford, and dumping her body in a shallow grave here in Joliet, along West Jefferson Street in the wooded area near the Woodlawn Memorial Park II.

According to a press release issued Friday night by Lisa Las for the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow sentencing and post-trial motions are scheduled for October 21.

Glasgow's press release pointed out that on November 12, 2018, at 8:59 a.m., Will County Sheriff’s Police were dispatched to the area of Jefferson Street and Eden Lane in Joliet for a possible death investigation.

Upon arrival, Sheriff’s deputies spoke to an off-duty Joliet Police Officer who said while he was hunting in the area, he saw what he believed to be a body of a humanbeing in a hole in the ground.

Will County deputies proceed to find a body placed in a manmade hole that appeared to have been set on fire. The body was wrapped in a bedsheet and blanket that police confirm through their investigation belonged to a motel in South Holland.

On November 13, 2018, the Will County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy, and a medical examiner ruled the cause of death as manual strangulation.

Trial testimony revealed Will County detectives made a positive identification of the Vvictim, Danica Ford, age 28, of Fayetteville, N.C., based upon a tattoo on the victim’s body. Detectives verified through jer family members that the tattoo referenced the deaths of a husband and wife from Kannapolis, N.C. who passed away in 2003 and 2014.

Will County Sheriff’s Police, through the assistance of the Cumberland County Fayetteville, North Carolina Sheriff’s Department, and the Concord North Carolina Police Department, interviewed multiple family members of the victim and defendant, and learned that McMillian and Ford were in a relationship sharing a child together.

In September of 2018, McMillian accepted a job with an insurance firm located in Schaumburg, Illinois, and the couple drove together from North Carolina and to Illinois in the victim’s car.

Police confirmed that McMillian and Ford stayed at a motel in Lansing, Illinois., on November 9, 2018. Detectives identified the Victim and saw she was wearing a bright green hair weave from video surveillance provided by the motel, a critical piece of evidence in the prosecution.

On November 13, 2018, police confirmed through witnesses and law enforcement street cameras that McMillian and Ford stayed at a motel in South Holland. Motel employees advised police on November 11, 2018, cleaning personnel discovered the entire bedding, including the comforter and sheets, was taken from the room that was registered in the name of the Defendant.

The sheets contained a unique emblem which employees identified as property of the motel.

On November 20, 2018, police traveled to Fayetteville N.C. and spoke with the Defendant’s mother. She informed police her son called her on November 13, 2018, asking for money. On November 16, 2018, McMillian showed up at her home in North Carolina, unannounced, and without the Vvictim. When asked the whereabouts of Danica Ford, McMillian replied he left her in Chicago.

Approximately three hours after detectives advised McMillian’s mother the Victim was deceased, detectives received a call back from McMillian’s mother who provided information where the Victim’s car was and the location of the Defendant.