Crest Hill Woman Has 4 DUIs, Tried To Shoot 54-Year-Old Man In Her Kitchen: Prosecutors

CREST HILL, IL — Karen Carnahan, the 50-year-old woman arrested by the Crest Hill Police Department following Monday afternoon's shooting inside her home on Borio Drive, has been charged with reckless discharge of a gun and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.

The Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow also filed a petition to deny pretrial release for Carnahan. According to court files, around 2:30 p.m., Crest Hill police responded to the house in the 16400 block of Borio Drive after gunshots were fired. When they arrived, officers found a 54-year-old man who told them that Carnahan no longer had the gun in her hand, but she had shot a round in the house. He said she was now sitting in the living room.

Officer Dorado saw her there, not wearing a shirt, and apparently highly intoxicated, prosecutors outlined. However, Carnahan stated she did not shoot a gun. She claimed and repeated that the 54-year-old man shot at her. He appeared sober to the officers and stated that he was not drinking alcohol, Will County prosecutors pointed out.

According to his account to the Crest Hill police, the 54-year-old man came home from work at 2:05 p.m., and Carnahan banged on the door and came into his room. He helped her to the couch downstairs; when he went to return upstairs, he saw her holding his gun. He tried to talk her out of using the gun, which he stated he had done successfully in the past, according to prosecutors.

Court records indicate the man took a step toward her, then decided there was no helping her and ran upstairs. A shot rang out during this time. The projectile was eventually recovered from a floorboard in the kitchen area.

"Meanwhile, Karen declared that this all started because (he) had brought another woman over, which angered her," prosecutors outlined. "Police recovered the gun from the kitchen area, and Karen told them that she had picked up the shell casing, although not what she did with it. She has the prior felony conviction alleged."

Prosecutors said Carnahan has four prior DUI findings of guilt, with three from Tippecanoe County, Indiana, which is metro Lafayette, including one felony.

She has a felony conviction from Indiana for resisting law enforcement with a vehicle. She also has one prior DUI finding of guilt in Will County from 2005 plus two other DUI arrests in 2008 and 2006. She has a 2018 public intoxication conviction in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and a 2000 illegal possession of prescription forms from 2000 in Will County, prosecutors introduced.

As of Thursday, Carnahan remains in the Will County Jail. Her next court appearance won't be until Feb. 19 in Courtroom 405.