Man Fatally Stabbed Pregnant Girlfriend At Beach: Prosecutors

CHICAGO — The Chicago man charged with murdering his pregnant girlfriend was ordered held without bond in an initial court appearance Saturday.

Robert Drummond, 21, is accused of fatally stabbing Yarianna Wheeler, 19, at Oakwood Beach in Chicago on Aug. 10. Authorities said a fisherman found her body floating in Lake Michigan a few miles southeast of Waukegan Harbor on Aug. 15.

On the night of Wheeler's disappearance, she had gotten into an argument with Drummond, who both believed to be the father of her unborn child, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. After they separated at Portillo's, Wheeler called Drummond more than two dozen times before calling a driver using a ride-hailing app and heading down to 39th Street Beach.

The ride-hailing driver told investigators that they overheard Wheeler talking to someone they assumed to be her boyfriend about where to meet when she arrived at the beach, and cell phone records confirm that Wheeler was on the phone with Drummond while in the car and as she walked out toward the beach, prosecutors said.

Phone records also showed Wheeler left a voicemail with a friend that indicated she was meeting with Drummond, prosecutors told the judge at a bond hearing Saturday in Chicago.

Surveillance video from the beach showed Wheeler exit the car alone and walk along the beach path with a large, square pink purse, according to prosecutors. About 15 minutes later, she was seen on video walking with a male figure who could not be identified from video.

Then, 36 minutes later, video showed the same unidentified person walking away from the water alone while holding Wheeler's pink purse, prosecutors said. The same figure was last seen on video walking down Drummond's block.

Several of Wheeler's belongings were found at the beach, including jewelry and clothes, prosecutors said, and a couple weeks after she had been reported missing, Drummond used her Link Card to buy $300 worth of Red Bull.

When officers first arrived to question him last month, Drummond tried to hand off Wheeler's Link Card to an unidentified woman or girl who was nearby, according to prosecutors.

Drummond also took a photo of a cut on his hand two days after authorities say he killed Wheeler, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said he told a witness that he was going to get his hand checked because he might have injured a nerve cutting his finger while working at Home Run Inn, but company records showed he did not worth there at all between Aug. 7 and Aug. 18.

Drummond, who currently faces a single count of first-degree murder, is due back in court Nov. 8 for a status hearing.

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Earlier: Man Charged With Murdering Pregnant Woman Found In Lake Michigan