Suicide Note Confirmed In Reed St. Tragedy: Police

JOLIET, IL — Deputy Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner said the investigation into Monday's murder-suicide in the 400 block of Reed Street is in the process of wrapping up. Inside the ranch, 41-year-old Celisa (Lundborg) Henning fatally shot her twin daughters Makayla and Addison multiple times in the head, police said. Afterward, she put one bullet into her head and died, according to the Will County Coroner's Office.

On Wednesday morning, Roechner told Joliet Patch that a suicide note was left behind by the Joliet mother. However, the police department is not going to divulge the contents of the suicide letter, he said.

"We are not going to be discussing anything in that note ... we're not going to be commenting out of respect for the dad and the grandparents," Roechner said. "There's no reason to drag the family through the mud. It's tough. It's just sad. These are unique ones. It's sad."

Roechner acknowledged the police department may never know everything that prompted Henning to decide on Monday to kill her young daughters before turning the gun on herself. At the time of the murder-suicide, her husband of eight years was gone for the day at his job. The twins, who were almost 6, were enrolled in kindergarten at the nearby St. Paul Catholic Church. Roechner said the girls were not in school Monday.

Roechner said his department is still awaiting the toxicology lab results and also the ownership history on the gun used in the murder-suicide.

Funeral home selection is still pending. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"How can you make sense of somebody using a gun and killing their 6-year-old daughters?" Roechner asked, reflecting on the tragedy. "It's something I can't fathom, and we'll probably never know why ... It's unfathomable for us what she did. Everything she did is 100 percent wrong, but I can't judge (her) on it."

To the best of Roechner's knowledge, Celisa Henning was not being treated for mental health issues or under psychiatric care.

"If anybody is going through anything, they need to realize they can call a helpline," Roechner said. "Call somebody. Call me. I'll help them. I'm being honest.

"This probably could have been prevented, maybe."

One of Celisa Henning's long-time friends suggested on Facebook that it was common knowledge that Henning had battled depression long before she got married in 2009 and had her twin daughters in 2011.

"I know when we bowled Friday nights together she battled depression. It's been 10-11 years since I seen her though," her friend commented this week on Facebook.

In the past, Celisa Henning regularly updated her Facebook page, often sharing photos and her personal reflections about her family and daughters. The Joliet mother identified herself in her Facebook bio as "Loves animals, loving family and friends, drinks socially, hard worker, loves down time." She also noted she had a favorite quote, "My mother and father inspire me."

Last September, Henning posted a photo of herself and her girls on her Facebook, remarking, " This doesn't happen too often. All 3 gals in dresses so I had to post this after someone mentioned to me that I am never in pictures. That's because I am always the one talking them. lol."

One thing on Celisa Henning's mind this month was a car crash. It happened in October 2015.

Roughly two weeks before Monday's murder-suicide, Henning filed a civil lawsuit at the Will County Courthouse against another Joliet woman. The personal injury suit sought more than $100,000 in damages. The lawsuit, in the works for months, was filed by Joliet attorney Michelle Hansen of Sabuco, Beck, Hansen, Massino & Pollack.

According to the Aug. 11 lawsuit, Henning was the victim of a rear-end collision on Oct. 19, 2015 at Jefferson Street and Larkin Avenue after she stopped at a red light. The other driver "carelessly and negligently operated said motor vehicle without keeping a proper lookout for other vehicles and ... specifically for the vehicle operated by the Plaintiff, Celisa K. Henning," according to the complaint.

The rear-end collision from 20 months ago had negatively affected Henning's health and well-being, her suit stated. Her attorney stated in court papers that "Celisa K. Henning sustained injuries, both internal and external of a permanent, lasting, disability and disfiguring nature to her body, mind, limbs and nervous system including but not limited to a lumbar injury.

"As a consequence thereof, Celisa K. Henning has suffered and will continue to suffer great pain and mental anguish and that in addition ... Celisa K. Henning has become and will become obligated in the future for large sums of money for reasonable medical expenses and endeavoring to be cured of said injuries ..."

For Joliet Patch's related coverage of the Reed Street tragedy:

• Heartbreaking Joliet Murder-Suicide Draws Mourners To Reed St.
• Mother, Twin Girls Dead In Joliet Murder-Suicide

Main image via Facebook screenshot

Other images via Joliet Patch