Four were arrested after prosecutors say officers found an array of drugs, along with an AR-15 pistol and a handgun, both of which had dual drum magazines, in a home where a toddler was living in North Chicago.
The North Chicago Police Department obtained a search warrant and carried it out around 6 a.m. on December 22 at an apartment building in the 2400 block of Sherman Avenue in North Chicago.
Officers knocked on the door and announced their presence but no one answered, leading them to force entry, according to Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Cannon.
A juvenile and Surraunte N. Henderson, 19, of North Chicago, were both in the living room near a sectional couch.
Cannon said Henderson was standing in front of the couch with his hands up but the juvenile suspect was crouched nearby as if he was concealing something on the floor.
The boy was very slow to stand up and raise his hands when ordered by the police.
In the area of the juvenile under a blanket, officers found a Glock 23 with a defaced serial number with an inserted dual drum extended magazine containing 50-100 rounds of ammunition, Cannon said.
The drum magazines were loaded but no round was chambered in the gun.
A gray ghost gun with a loaded 17-round magazine inserted was found underneath a pillow on the sectional couch immediately in front of Henderson, Cannon said.
Henderson is under 21 years old and has no Firearm Owner’s Identification card (FOID) or concealed carry license.
The main tenant of the unit is Eulayah O. Henderson, 20, of North Chicago. Officers searched her bedroom and found a shoe box in the closet, Cannon said.
Inside the shoe box was 817 grams of a green leafy substance in various plastic bags that field tested positive for cannabis, seven grams of a cube substance in a clear plastic knotted bag that field tested positive for fentanyl and 60 grams of a rock-like substance in clear plastic bags that field tested positive for cocaine.
Two digital scales with residue that field tested positive for cocaine, ziploc bags and an auto sear device to render a firearm fully automatic that was covered in cocaine residue were also located in the box.
Police recovered $2,500 in cash. $600 of it was on the juvenile suspect’s person, with the rest being stored in various areas around Eulayah Henderson’s apartment, including large bundles of money in her dresser drawer, Cannon said.
Cannon said officers additionally found an AR-15 pistol, which had the buttstock removed, pointing out of a box at eye level in the bedroom closet of Eulayah Henderson’s two-year-old child.
The gun had two dual drum magazines containing 50-100 rounds of green-tipped armor-piercing bullets.
Eulayah Henderson denied possessing any firearms and said she would not allow anyone to have firearms in her home, Cannon said. She also denied knowledge of the drugs in the home.
Surraunte Henderson denied knowledge or ownership of the firearms and said he just flew in from Kentucky.
Eulayah Henderson was charged with manufacturing or delivery of 15-100 grams of cocaine, possession of 15-100 grams of cocaine, manufacturing or delivery of 1-15 grams of fentanyl, manufacturing or delivery of 500-2,000 grams of cannabis, possession of 500-2,000 grams of cannabis and possession of a controlled substance. Prosecutors said she could face weapons charges pending the investigation.
Surraunte Henderson was charged with possession of a firearm while ineligible for a FOID and four counts of aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon.
It is unclear what the juvenile suspect was charged with due to juvenile court records not being accessible to the public in Illinois.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Surraunte Henderson and Eulayah Henderson, arguing they pose a danger to the community.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim initially granted both requests but later reversed his decision and released Surraunte Henderson after a motion to reconsider hearing.
“Furthermore, a very young child lived in this two-bedroom apartment unit where multiple loaded, illegally possessed and modified firearms were located. One of the firearms was recovered from the child’s bedroom closet. This defendant [Eulayah] is alleged to have possessed three different controlled substances with the intent to deliver, two of which being fentanyl and cocaine,” Cannon said.
“These were stored in a shoebox in a closet where a small child lived. Furthermore, there was also an automatic firearm switch in the box with the drugs, and not just one, but three loaded firearms in the apartment – all with drum magazines and one with armor-piercing green-tipped bullets. This Defendant [Eulayah] is a danger to both the community and to her minor child, who lived in an apartment with loaded firearms and multiple controlled substances,” Cannon said.
Attorney Robert T. Ritacca, who is representing Eulayah Henderson, said his client was not the subject of the search warrant and that officers were searching for Davioneta Brown, 23, who was believed to be living in the home and wanted for attempted murder.
Brown was taken into custody by the North Chicago Police Department along with the two Hendersons.
Ritacca further argued in court that Eulayah Henderson was overcharged and that prosecutors failed to prove she was the possessor of the drugs out of the four people in the apartment.
Eulayah Henderson remains held in the Lake County Jail and she and Surraunte Henderson are scheduled to appear in court again on February 5 for an arraignment hearing.
Brown, who was not charged with any drug or weapons offense, remains held in the Lake County Jail awaiting extradition on his warrant. He has separate active cases in Lake County for domestic battery, aggravated fleeing to elude and possession of a stolen vehicle, among other charges.