![]() "He was very upset on the phone," said George Filenko. His fears are confirmed when he calls police and finds out Rhoni is dead. "Nothing bad ever happens in Deerfield, so word of the shooting spread quickly," said Ari Fisz.Īcross town, Shaun Gayle gets a call from a local reporter, telling him a pregnant woman has been shot in Rhoni Reuter's neighborhood. News of a possible killer on the loose rocks the city of Deerfield. "One of the witnesses indicated that the person that they saw walking away was short, thin African-American-looking person in appearance, with dark curly hair," said Fisz.Īnother witness told cops they remember a black car speeding away. ![]() ![]() Police track down a neighbor who reports seeing a dark-skinned male running from the scene. ![]() "Normally in a case like that, the gun's jamming for some reason," said Filenko. "We didn't know what the motive was."Ĭops say there was no forced entry into her apartment, or fingerprints, just some unspent 9mm shell casings scattered haphazardly around Rhoni's body. "The final wound sort of was a coup de grace, very cold-blooded, was a shot to the head, to the back of the head, almost like an assassination-type thing, a final ending," said Filenko. But she couldn't save the baby, and the final bullet ensured Rhoni wouldn't survive either. Police say during Rhoni's last breaths, she cradled her unborn baby girl, trying to protect Sklylar from the hail of bullets. "The first shot appeared to be targeted right at her stomach," said Filenko. "No way did we ever suspect that this was random."ĭeerfield Police assume Rhoni Reuter was the target, until they get a closer look. "This was targeted," said George Filenko. "The police and paramedics responded right away, but it was very obvious there was nothing they could do for Rhoni or her child," said Fisz. When Deerfield Police arrive, they find the expectant mother dead on the kitchen floor with a sonogram hanging over her head on the refrigerator. "She had recently seen a movie where there was a gun that was fired using a silencer, and she said that that's what it sounded like," said Ari Fisz. And she told detectives the shots sounded strangely muffled. Rhoni's neighbor calls 911 and tells the operator she heard seven to eight shots, followed by a loud thud. But when she opens her front door, a nightmare is there to greet her with a loaded gun. On the morning of October 4, 2007, just a little more than a month away from delivering her miracle baby, Rhoni Reuter heads off to work. But over time, state's attorney Ari Fisz says, Shaun tells friends he's warmed up to the idea. Initially the football star doesn't seem as thrilled about becoming a dad. That way if anything ever happens to her doctors will know to save Baby Skylar. She even wears a pearl medic-alert bracelet. The older mom takes every safety precaution. "She was very excited," said Illinois Assistant State's Attorney Ari Fisz. Then news that blindsides the couple: at 41, Rhoni discovers she's pregnant. Retired Lake County, Illinois Major Crimes Task Force Detective George Filenko says the two met at a Bears training camp near Rhoni's hometown in Wisconsin.įor nearly two decades, Rhoni and Shaun were blissfully inseparable, traveling the globe. They were football royalty in Deerfield, Illinois: Shaun Gayle, the much-adored Chicago Bear, and Rhoni Reuter, the stunning brunette working her way up in the fashion field. The legendary tough guy Shaun Gayle sobs hysterically when he finds out the love of his life is dead, and the motive for Rhoni's murder was Baby Skylar. She was 7 months pregnant, just over 40 days from bringing a life into the world, when Rhoni Reuter's life was taken. The couple had even come up with a name for their little girl: Skylar Gayle. Rhoni was expecting her first child with her boyfriend, former Chicago Bear Super Bowl champion Shaun Gayle.
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