Death Penalty Sought; Sgt. Rittmanic Honored

Officers from far and wide attend Sgt. Rittmanic’s wake. – Photo courtesy Aly Knapp

– Photo courtesy Aly Knapp.

By Andrea Arens

Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe is seeking the death penalty for suspects Darius Sullivan and Xandria Harris. Rowe appeared in court Monday and is seeking life sentences for Sullivan and Harris. He’s also requesting federal murder charges to be filed against Sullivan and Harris and for federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty. Illinois is not a death penalty state.

At about 9:56 p.m., on Wednesday, December 29, two Bradley police officers were called to the Comfort Inn on Route 50, on a report of unattended dogs barking in the parking lot. A hotel employee indicated the room was booked by Sullivan and sent officers to room 308. Sullivan was wanted on outstanding warrants for failure-to-appear in court.

Officer Rittmanic and Bailey received no response from their initial knock at 10:13 p.m. They knocked again, idnetified themselves as the police department, and asked Harris to exit the room to address the noisy dog complaint. Kankakee County States Attorney Jim Rowe said in court Harris replied and indicated she would exit the room. The officers knocked a few more times during a span of several minutes and each time, Harris replied she was coming.

After several minutes, Harris tried to squeeze herself through the door and close it. Officer Rittmanic and Officer Bailey both asked Harris multiple times to stop blocking the doorway, Rowe said. Then, prosecutors said Sullivan came around the corner of the hotel room armed with a 9mm handgun equipped with a drum clip.

Rowe said that as Harris struggled with the officers, Sullivan pointed the gun and shot Bailey in the head. Sullivan allegedly turned the gun on Rittmanic and shot at her as she tried to run away.

He then allegedly appeared to chase Rittmanic down the hallway before pinning her against a door. Sullivan and Officer Rittmanic scuffled, and Sullivan called out to Harris who joined him and helped him disarm Rittmanic. Both Sullivan and Harris stood over Officer Rittmanic with guns pointed at her as she laid on the floor. She pleaded with Sullivan not to shoot her. Rowe said, “She was desperately pleading for her life.”

While Harris was holding Sullivan’s gun, Sullivan allegedly fired two shots at Rittmanic, striking her in the neck area from what’s believed to be Rittmanic’s gun.

After the shooting, Harris told Sullivan to leave and went back to the hotel room to get her things and her two children, who were in the room at the time of the shooting.

Rittmanic, 49, and Bailey, 27 were transported to local hospitals. Sergeant Rittmanic later died of her injuries. Officer Bailey was transported to another hospital where he remains in critical condition.

Rittmanic was laid to rest Friday at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery after a well attended service at Hawkins Chapel at Oliver Nazarene University. Convoys of law enforcement from far and wide led the procession, while residents from across all communities lined the procession route to honor Sgt. Rittmanic.

Community member and wife of a Bradley police officer Aly Knapp said, “Marlene was an amazing woman. The procession yesterday brought my husband and I to tears but then we were overcome with happy tears as we saw all those people lined up in the freezing weather to support Marlene, Tyler, Bradley PD, and all law enforcement. There were people lined up all the way through Bourbonnais. As we went through out of town, people were still lined up at every driveway, intersection, roadway, and parking lot holding signs, saluting every squad that passed, Blue line flags, and American flags! The town of Wilmington was packed with people. We are so grateful to everyone for their support! When it seems the world has gone dark, our surrounding communities show us the bright light. There is good out there!”