A 24-year-old Urbana man faces attempted murder and aggravated vehicular hijacking charges after he allegedly zip-tied a woman’s neck and stole her car in Harwood Heights, authorities said.
Afterward, the attacker wrote a note that apologized for the attack, which left the 61-year-old victim on life support.
“I’m deeply sorry for hurting anyone at the moment, it seemed to be the only choice,” Reese Miller allegedly wrote in a note left behind in the victim’s 2015 Toyota Scion, according to Cook County prosecutors.
“I didn’t want to hurt people. It was never something I ever thought possible until the realization of reality hit me.”
Prosecutors read the note during a bail hearing Friday in Rolling Meadows, where Judge Ellen Beth Mandeltort ordered Miller be held without bond.
Harwood Heights police found the woman lying on her back, her face turning blue with blood under her head, around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to prosecutors.
A neighbor of the woman saw a male struggling with the victim and appearing to choke her early Wednesday morning.
The woman was taken to an area hospital and remained in critical condition and on life support as of Friday afternoon, according to Harwood Heights police.
Police officers in south suburban Crete arrested Miller later that morning. Miller admitted to attacking the woman and moving her out of the way before driving away in her car, authorities said. Miller also claimed ownership of a knife later found in the car, prosecutors said.
Miller also admitted to tying a zip-tie around the woman’s neck, taking her Toyota and writing a note that law enforcement later found in the vehicle, according to court records.
Miller is originally from Mississippi and works at a bakery on the Northwest Side of Chicago. He will return to court on Sept. 22.
