Family of murdered suburban Chicago woman Melissa Aud-Headlee speaks out
CHICAGO (CBS) — The family of a Joliet woman stabbed to death by her estranged husband in a weekend murder-suicide is speaking out to CBS 2.
Joliet police told CBS 2 they'd been called to the home for mostly domestic violence-related incidents nine times since 2021.
Melissa Aud-Headlee had taken out two orders of protection against her then-estranged husband before he took her life on Saturday.
"It was a gift that God gave me that I got to spend the last hour with my sister doing something for her. Yeah, I was one of the last family members she got to see."
Melissa Aud-Headlee's older brother, Daniel Ronczkowski, showed the flower beds he was helping his little sister plant on Saturday.
When they ran out of mulch, he said he offered to run to the store.
He was only gone a few minutes when he got a call to come back.
Aud-Headlee's estranged husband, Michael Aud-Headlee, had been watching them from a distance and confronted her inside the home once her brother was gone.
Her family said she put down their three-year-old son and told him to "run and hide."
After a struggle inside, she ran for a neighbor's house.
But Joliet Police said that's when Michael Aud-Headlee caught up to her in the middle of the street and stabbed her multiple times in the chest with a kitchen knife before turning the knife on himself.
"She held them off with everything she could. You can tell by the front door of the house that there was a struggle, and her blood was all over. And she ran out in the opposite direction of her child," said Bill May, Melissa Aud-Headlee's father.
Aud Headlee, who had just turned 35 the day before, had filed for divorce, and court records show that she had also filed for orders of protection in January 2022 and November 2023.
They said they're speaking out now and wearing purple in support of domestic violence awareness because they hope anyone who might have experiences that resonate with Melissa's will get the help they need.
"You know if someone else can see this, hear her story, and reach out, reach out to anyone," Ronczkowski said.
The family said there will be a vigil at the home on Friday at 6 p.m.
CBS 2 will have more details on the case in the 6:00 newscast.
If you or someone you know needs help, there's a domestic violence hotline people can use: 1-877-TO END DV or 1-877-863-6338 (Voice) and 1-877-863-6339 (TTY)
The Illinois Department of Human Services has a website with information and resources for victims of domestic violence.