Newly unsealed documents say the Richmond parents charged with first-degree murder of their child knew the boy was suffering from an overdose and refused to promptly seek medical care.
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 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 added.
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.
Court records show the two were later charged by a grand jury on February 29 with first-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, multiple counts of child endangerment and possession of a controlled substance. Eric Ullrich was also charged with obstructing justice.
The murder cases against the two had been sealed from the public after they were filed.
McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis signed an order that unimpounded Cara Ullrich’s case last week.
A grand jury indictment said Cara Ullrich and Eric Ullrich refused to seek medical care for Trent Ullrich, knowing that he was under the influence of a narcotic and experiencing an overdose.
The two knew such an act “created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm to” the boy, the indictment said.
The indictment said Cara Ullrich brought a substance containing fentanyl into the residence, which was occupied by two children, in the 9600 block of Hillandale Road in unincorporated Richmond.
The drugs were accessible and led to the 14-year-old boy overdosing, the indictment and a criminal complaint said.
Eric Ullrich allowed the drugs to be brought into the home and he also possessed a substance containing cocaine, the indictment said.
The indictment said Eric Ullrich was charged with obstructing justice because he concealed physical evidence and provided false information that impeded the death investigation.
Court records initially listed 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 at the time of Eric Ullrich’s arrest said he 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 was taken back into custody after the charges were upgraded to murder.
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.
The two defendants remain held in jail after prosecutors filed petitions to detain them pending trial.