Antonio Monroe murdered Destiny Renee Huggins, police said. (Mugshot: Winnebago County Jail; image of Huggins: GoFundMe)
The sex offender charged with kidnapping and murdering a 10-year-old girl is now linked to the mysterious death of a woman found just a few days earlier. Cops have yet to specify why Antonio Tenelle Monroe was allegedly with Natalie Taye Negray, 24, before he left town and killed young Destiny Renee Huggins.
The child’s death rocked the city of Rockford, Illinois. Police there said Monroe kidnapped Huggins while she was playing with her 6-year-old sister Saturday. The younger girl managed to escape back home and tell their mother what happened, according to cops. The mother called 911. Tragically, another man soon flagged down police.
He said he found a child unresponsive outside a home in the 1200 block of 9th Avenue.
“Upon arrival, officers located the child and began administrating CPR,” officers said. “Rockford Fire Department arrived on scene and transported the child to a local hospital where she was pronounced deceased.”
“SHE WAS JUST A 10 YEAR OLD PRINCESS!!” stated a GoFundMe to support the mother. “SHE WAS MURDERED!!”
A police officer along with his K9 found Monroe, according to cops. He allegedly matched the description of the suspect.
“The man, later identified as Antonio Monroe, was taken into custody after a brief struggle,” officers wrote. Illinois sex offender records show that Monroe, 44, sexually assaulted a 19-year-old in Peoria County when he was 31. The charge was criminal sexual assault/force.
Police are still investigating the alleged motive and why Monroe was in Rockford, about 100 miles away. It is largely unclear what he was doing before Saturday, but police in the Chicago-area suburb of Schaumburg, Illinois, now say he was previously together with Negray.
Negray was discovered in a hotel room in the MainStay Suites on the 1200 block of Bank Drive on July 5, according to local police. That was three days before Huggins’ death. Cops in Schaumburg are in touch with their Rockford counterparts.
“The Schaumburg Police Department has been working with the Rockford Police Department as evidence suggests that Antonio Monroe, 44 years of age and a resident of the 2000 block of 135th Place in Blue Island Illinois was with Natalie Negray prior to her being discovered,” police wrote. “The investigation is ongoing.”
Police are otherwise staying mum about the connection.
“I can confirm that they were together in Schaumburg prior to Mr. Monroe going to Rockford,” Sgt. Matt Christenson, the Schaumburg police public information officer, told Law&Crime. He otherwise declined to release information beyond what the press release stated.
Brittany Hill, the public information officer for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, told Law&Crime the cause and manner of death are pending.
More Law&Crime coverage: Massachusetts sex Offender, now 73, charged in 1966 murder of fifth grade girl found beaten and drowned
Negray, a native of Streator, Illinois, would have turned 25 on Tuesday, July 11. Her obituary stated she lived life to the fullest.
“She enjoyed art, make-up, modeling, and music,” it read. “On this day, July 11, 1998, a star was born and was called home by the Lord on July 5, 2023, to be reunited with her parents Nicole and Shane.”
Monroe is now held at the Winnebago County Jail on a $5 million bond for murder, kidnapping, and aggravated battery/strangulation.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
Antonio Monroe linked to Natalie Negray’s death