Botched Drug Robbery Led To Killing In Antioch Apartment: Authorities

WAUKEGAN, IL — The Wisconsin man found shot dead in an Antioch apartment Monday had been lured there as part of a botched robbery, authorities said.

Johnathan Skroko, 28, of the 600 block of Fieldcrest Drive in South Elgin, and Hailey Miller, 24, of the 1000 block of Main Street in Antioch, have been charged with the first-degree murder of Robbie Dickerson, a 42-year-old resident of Racine, Wisconsin.

Authorities said Dickerson and his girlfriend drove to Miller's house to sell her drugs. Miller convinced Dickerson to go inside while his girlfriend waited outside in the car, according to prosecutors.

A few minutes later — around 11 p.m. — Dickerson's girlfriend reported hearing several gunshots from inside.

Miller and Skroko then emerged from the house and tried to convince her to come inside. When she declined, Skroko brandished a gun and told the girlfriend to leave, Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Stephen Scheller said Thursday.

According to the prosecutor, Miller said Skroko planned to rob Dickerson at gunpoint and steal his drugs.

According to the prosecutor, when Dickerson entered Miller's house, Skroko emerged with a sawed-off shotgun and demanded drugs.

"[Dickerson] at that point grabbed Ms. Miller, trying to shield himself," Scheller said. "But she was able to break away, at which time Mr. Skroko fired a shotgun directly into the chest of [Dickerson]."

Skroko then asked Miller to "finish him off" with a handgun, Miller said, but she refused, according to the prosecutor.

The pair fled briefly to Wisconsin, but Miller's father refused to allow Skroko into his house, Scheller said.

Although Skroko discussed heading to Tennessee or Kentucky, instead they wound up at his fiancée's South Elgin home, the prosecutor said, noting that Skroko's fiancée helped sneak Miller out of the house and dump a cache of firearms into the Busse Woods nature preserve.

Skroko and Miller were arrested Wednesday in a hotel near the intersection of Route 41 and Grand Avenue in Gurnee.

Investigators were able to track Miller's cell phone prior to the arrest, and Scheller described copious forensic evidence linking her and Skroko to Dickerson's slaying.

Miller was ordered held at Lake County Jail unless she posts the $300,000 cash portion of her bond.

The cash portion of the bond for Skroko, who was released on parole last year in the midst of a five-year state prison sentence for aggravated robbery and aggravated domestic battery in Cook County, was set at $500,000.

Earlier:

• Homicide Probe Underway After Man Shot Dead In Antioch Apartment
• 2 'People Of Interest' In Custody, Being Questioned In Homicide Of Man In Antioch: Police