Brandi Frederick is shown with her daughter, following the accident that claimed Frederick’s lower legs.
LAWRENCE CO.—A Sumner woman has claimed she’s been stalked incessantly by pill-heads in Lawrence County while recovering from a tragic auto accident upstate.
However, three months after the wreck in Waukegan that took the life of 25-year-old Brandi Frederick’s boyfriend, CJ McGill, 24, and caused the loss of Frederick’s legs at the knee, she’s been arrested and charged in McGill’s death.
Friends of Frederick claim that following her return back to Sumner, Frederick has been harassed and stalked by unnamed “pill-heads” who are assuming that because she’s now a double amputee, she must have some pretty powerful pain medications in her possession.
Frederick has reportedly been in considerable turmoil since the accident; and this was compounded when, on Friday, September 26, she was arrested and taken to Lawrence County’s jail, then transported to Jefferson County, where she was to await transport to Lake County in northern Illinois.
In Lake County, she’s officially been charged with two counts of Aggravated DUI causing an accident or death; and two counts of Reckless Homicide with a Motor Vehicle.
And apparently, the story she’s told about the wreck and how it occurred isn’t matching up with what officials in Lake County believe took place on that night in late June.
Serious car wreck
While the circumstances of Frederick’s and McGill’s presence in upstate Illinois weren’t clear, what’s known is that on June 28, 2014, the two were in a severe car wreck in Waukegan.
Witnesses told Waukegan investigators that the car was traveling at a high rate of speed before the crash occurred, this at about 3 a.m. at the 1700 block of North Lewis Avenue, where the vehicle struck a utility pole.
While first responders worked to free both of them from the wreckage, ultimately it was discovered that McGill was killed on impact and Frederick had multiple injuries, including the amputation of both of her legs above the knee.
Frederick told friends that she didn’t remember everything leading up to the wreck; however, she claimed to remember the “brakes and power steering going out on the car” and that she “began to panic. After that, my mind and memory is blank.”
Investigators were right away working on whether drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash.
Left the home
Frederick was transferred to Libertyville, then to Herrin, then back to Sumner.
Her mother, Tammy Guerrero, was her power of attorney. Guerrero is reported to have signed Frederick out of physical rehab early and brought her and her seven-year-old daughter to her trailer in Sumner.
Then, according to Frederick (who advised friends of this), Guerrero allegedly “began to mentally abuse Brandi.”
The accusations were that Guerrero “continuously called (Frederick) ‘a murderer’ and would intentionally put objects out of the reach of her in her wheelchair.”
Ultimately, and this according to friends, she “kicked Frederick out of the trailer, in the rain, at night, with only her wheelchair.”
Whether this actually occurred, or whether Frederick left of her own volition, it was reported that she wheeled into Sumner and got stuck at the railroad tracks. Attempting to cross them, she was reported to have fallen backwards and hit her head.
“Not many of the sidewalks and railroad tracks in Sumner are handicap accessible,” a friend reported. “Luckily, a passer-by assisted her up. Brandi slept on the city bench that night—lost, broken, and now homeless.”
Took it to the TV station
Frederick came to a friend’s house that next morning, dropped off by an unknown female.
Upon arrival, Frederick told her story to this friend, who took Frederick to Guerrero’s to get her, and her daughter’s, personal belongings.
“Upon arrival, Tammy cursed me out and called the cops,” this friend advised.
Sumner Police Chief Travis Trainer arrived and assisted with removing Frederick’s belongings from Guerrero’s property, despite stating that it “wasn’t his line of expertise to be helping her move property.”
Frederick and her friends began calling around and searching for some kind of assistance. They attempted to contact Sumner Mayor Gary Hutchinson, but were informed by Trainer that there was “nothing the mayor could do.”
“We contacted the city and county for some kind of assistance and were turned away each time,” the friend wrote to Disclosure. “Assistance was begged for online, over the phone, and even through WTHI-TV. The news station came and did a story on Brandi’s situation on the bench she slept on. Remarkably, when the word got around Sumner, the bench ‘disappeared’ and the area was cleaned up. A couple days later the same reporter was spotted leaving the city hall area. After the interview the reporter said the story had to be sent to management, but it never aired,” the friend advised, wondering why this occurred.
The Yellow Mansion
Later that week, an unknown female picked up Frederick as she was attempting to go visit her aunt.
The female allegedly began asking Brandi if she had any pain medications that she could buy or trade for.
She then, for whatever reason, took Brandi to a location known as the “Yellow Mansion” in Sumner. Upon arrival there, Frederick reportedly learned these people (reported as “a few families”) had moved to Sumner from an eastern seaboard state.
“They began to tell her about a drug they were making called ‘ice,’” the friend advised. “It basically contained a mixture of meth and bath salts and can be smoked or injected with a needle.”
Upon arrival home, Trainer stopped at the house of the unnamed Sumner friend with whom Frederick was staying. Frederick explained to him what had happened and what was seen and heard.
“The chief then began stating he knew they were involved with the Hydrocodone distribution but had not heard about the bath salts,” Frederick’s friend said. “Then about an hour after leaving, Brandi had received a phone call from a female stating that the chief had gone to the Yellow Mansion and told them what Brandi had stated and mentioned her name.
“Brandi was now being stalked and followed by known drug users,” the friend alleged.
Enter Earnst
The week before Frederick’s arrest, Lawrence County Deputy Nick Earnst knocked on the door of the friend’s house where Frederick was staying.
“I opened and he asked me to step outside,” she said. “He asked me if Brandi was staying there. I said yes and he stated there was an anonymous caller who said there was dope being smoked around the kids at Brandi’s house. Okay, hold on. If you don’t even know where Brandi lives, how is there a report being made on her house?”
The friend reported that Earnst “didn’t even park at the right house” and wondered if the visit was because Guerrero was family and she had called in a “personal favor.”
Earnst asked if he could search the property, and the friend agreed peacefully.
“I waited in the dining room, while my daughter and Brandi’s daughter watched the police search our home. Nick went to Brandi’s room and Brandi shortly followed. He seemed to be taking longer so I decided to see what was going on.”
Slimy black substance
When the friend entered the room, she reported she saw Earnst going through Frederick’s purse.
“I told him he was not allowed to go through personal belongings and he stated the purse ‘fell,’” she reported.
Earnst, she said, was holding a baggie with a dark slimy substance in it.
“I asked him what it was and he said it fell out of Brandi’s purse,” the friend advised, noting that Frederick was stating it was not her property.
The woman reported that Earnst began to raise his voice and yell at Frederick, threatening to “take her to jail for a look-alike substance.”
“I was unsure of what to do,” the friend reported; “I could not believe this was happening in front of my child. I grabbed my camera and Earnst then threatened me with a lawsuit, and walked out carrying the unknown substance.”
Sherriff Russell Adams was alerted of the situation and was told that the friend wanted to file a complaint be against Deputy Earnst, who has been the subject of more and more such reports in the past few months.
“Adams stated he would stop by after he got off of work that day,” the friend advised. “He never showed up.”
Taken to JeffCo
Adams’ wife Karen and another deputy were the ones who transported Frederick to Jefferson County, however.
It’s unclear why she wasn’t transported to Crawford County (where most females are taken out of Lawrence unless their stay in Lawrence is anticipated to be a short one). The assumption was that Jefferson, being a larger, modern facility, was up to specs when it came to housing handicapped individuals.
To underscore this, Frederick’s friend reported on Sunday, September 28, that while in Lawrence County at some point in time on the day before, Frederick had tried to use the restroom and had fallen and bruised her face and elbow.
This was reported to Jefferson County authorities, who made note of it and who would only further confirm nothing else about Frederick, except that it was likely that she would be transported to Lake County on Monday, the 29th.
Online court documents for Lake County don’t show when Frederick is next to be in court on the very serious charges; Disclosure was only able to confirm through Jefferson County sources that her bail is $100,000 ($10,000 cash bond).
Disclosure, despite managing to obtain Guerrero’s number prior to publication, was unable to reach her as of press time.
Frederick has no prior criminal history in Lawrence. It is likely she will remain jailed in Lake County until her case is either settled with a plea, or ends in a trial of guilty or not guilty; Disclosure will keep readers informed of developments.