Authorities in Joliet, Illinois on Wednesday arrested the girlfriend of the man suspected of killing eight people earlier this week, charging the 21-year-old woman with felony obstruction of justice for allegedly impeding their investigation.
Kyleigh Cleveland-Singleton, looking “distraught and emotional,” according to ABC7 Chicago, was placed on home confinement after making an initial court appearance on Thursday.
In a Monday interview with detectives, Cleveland-Singleton allegedly made statements to “prevent the apprehension of the suspect,” Romeo Nance, police said. A criminal complaint obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times stated that she claimed not to know Nance’s phone number.
Cleveland-Singleton is also the mother to Nance’s 3-year-old son, ABC7 Chicago reported. Police were searching for the boy on Monday when they made contact with Cleveland-Singleton, who agreed to give them a voluntary interview.
She faces one-to-six years in prison if convicted.
Nance, 23, is believed to have gone on a shooting spree that ended in the Monday murders of seven of his family members. The victims were identified as his mother, brother, three sisters, aunt, and uncle. A motive in their murders remained unclear as of Thursday.
Nance is also believed to have fatally shot one other man, Toyosi Bakare, 28, and wounded another 42-year-old man on Sunday afternoon. Authorities have since said they believe those two incidents to have been “random” in nature.
He fled to Texas, where police officers and federal agents chased him in his red Toyota Camry and later on foot. He shot and killed himself shortly after.
Cleveland-Singleton, who will undergo electronic monitoring while staying at her mother’s house, is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 8.
