The parents of a 14-year-old boy have been charged with first-degree murder after the child died as a result of illegal drugs allegedly brought into his Richmond home by the parents.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, Richmond Township Fire Protection District and Mercyhealth MD-1 responded around 10:50 a.m. on January 3 to the 9600 block of Hillandale Road in unincorporated Richmond.
Sheriff’s officials said the call was for a medical emergency involving an unresponsive juvenile male.
911 dispatchers indicated over the radio that someone was performing CPR on the juvenile, a 14-year-old.
Fire officials said paramedics initiated lifesaving treatment and were assisted by Mercyhealth MD-1.
Paramedics rushed the juvenile to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in McHenry where he was pronounced dead.
McHenry County Coroner Dr. Michael Rein identified the child as Trent Ullrich, 14, of Richmond.
An autopsy was performed on Ullrich on January 4. Toxicology and tissue samples were collected and sent for testing.
Rein said Monday that the cause of the boy’s death was determined to be from the adverse effects of fentanyl and xylazine. The manner of death was deemed to be an accident, Rein said.
Following the child’s death in January, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office arrested his parents.
Cara Ullrich, 45, Round Lake Beach, was initially charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance and two counts of child endangerment.
Eric Ullrich, 51, of Richmond, was initially charged with possession of a controlled substance and child endangerment.
Jail records show the two were additionally charged on Thursday by a grand jury with first-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court from the initial charges said Cara Ullrich possessed under 200 grams of a substance containing fentanyl and under 15 grams of a substance containing cocaine.
The complaint said Cara Ullrich endangered the lives of two children — a 14-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy.
Cara Ullrich allegedly brought drugs, containing fentanyl, into the residence in the 9600 block of Hillandale Road in unincorporated Richmond accessible to the children, who were present in the home, the complaint said.
Court records list Cara Ullrich as being a resident of the home where the incident occurred; however, the sheriff’s office said she is a Round Lake Beach resident.
A criminal complaint from the initial charges alleged Eric Ullrich possessed less than 15 grams of a substance containing cocaine on the day the boy died.
He allegedly left the 14-year-old boy in circumstances that endangered his life, the complaint said.
The complaint said Eric Ullrich suspected the boy to be under the influence of heroin and fentanyl at the family’s residence and did not promptly seek medical care for the boy.
Prosecutors in January said the child who died was the son of Cara Ullrich and Eric Ullrich and that when paramedics arrived the woman hid in a bathtub because she knew she had warrants, the Northwest Herald reported.
Cara Ullrich was wanted on failure to appear warrants for 2020 charges of domestic battery and violation of an order of protection and a 2021 charge for aggravated battery, court records showed.
Prosecutors said the boy told his father, who he resides with at the residence, that he did not feel good and laid on the couch before falling asleep, the Herald reported. His father later found he was not breathing.
Deputies had to tackle Cara Ullrich after she tried running from them at the scene, prosecutors said.
Court records show Eric Ullrich was out on pre-trial release in his first case and has since been taken back into custody on Thursday after the charges were upgraded in the newly filed case.
Cara Ullrich has remained held in the McHenry County Jail since her arrest in January. She was recently sentenced to four years in prison for a prior case for violating her probation.