Neighbor charged in strangling death of Schaumburg woman
A construction worker who lived steps from Tiffany Thrasher’s apartment in Schaumburg is accused of sexually assaulting and strangling her in the hours before she was to attend an Easter Sunday service, authorities said Thursday.
Bulmaro Mejia- Maya, a 29- year- old man with a violent criminal past, is charged with first- degree murder, aggravated criminal sexual assault and home invasion, police announced during a news conference.
U. S. marshals arrested Mejia- Maya in Jacksonville, Florida, where he appeared for an extradition hearing Thursday, police said.
Mejia- Maya waived extradition and will be brought back to Cook County at some time before May 4, police said.
After the news conference, Thrasher’s family released a statement through a GoFundMe page dedicated to her funeral costs.
“Our family is devastated by the additional details regarding this heinous act,” it said. “Words cannot express our pain and suffering.”
A cadre of Thrasher’s family and friends had begun moving her belongings out of the apartment on Clipper Drive. They asked for privacy but thanked Schaumburg police and other agencies investigating Thrasher’s death, saying, “We can now begin to grieve knowing that justice will be served.”
The investigation is not over, and questions about motives for the violent crime remain.
Investigators interviewed Thrasher’s family, friends, co- workers and neighbors and gathered more than 200 pieces of evidence. They targeted Mejia- Maya as a suspect by Tuesday afternoon and learned he may have fled to Jacksonville, detective Cmdr. Kurt Metzger said during the news conference.
Scha um burg detectives went to Jacksonville to interview him Wednesday night, police said.
“He has made incriminating statements,” Metzger said.
Police had not determined if Mejia- Maya knew Thrasher nor whether he’d stalked or approached her. A thin swath of grass about 50 feet wide separated the victim’s unit from Mejia- Maya’s. He had lived in the apartment about six months, police said.
Police believe Mejia- Maya entered Thrasher’s apartment through an unlocked ground- level window. They hadn’t determined whether he waited in the apartment or surprised her by his entrance.
The 33- year- old Thrasher was found dead after members of her church, Living Hope Church in Elk Grove Village, became concerned when she missed the Easter Sunday morning service, where she was supposed to sing. They asked police to check on her. Officers entered the apartment and found her body.
An autopsy and other evidence showed Thrasher had been strangled and sexually assaulted.
Joe Person, who lives in the same building as MejiaMaya once did, said the suspect and his roommates often congregated on the sidewalk, drinking beer and listening to music well into the night.
“We haven’t seen them since Saturday,” Person said. “I thought it was weird. They were always out here. I didn’t like my [ 10- year- old] daugh- ter walking by them when she took out the garbage, so I made her go around the building to stay away from them.”
Mejia- Maya, also known as Mario Mejia, has a criminal record in several states. He’s listed as a citizen of Mexico on the Jacksonville police report, and records show he had a green card when he was arrested in May 2012 in Florida. U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would not comment on his current residency.
He has an active warrant for his arrest on a charge of failure to appear in court after a May 2016 arrest in Utah on misdemeanor drug charges, according to court records there.
He was arrested in May 2012 for stabbing a man during a fight at a house party near Orlando, Florida. Initially charged with a felony count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, MejiaMaya pleaded guilty in April 2013 to misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to the 117 days in jail he had already served plus fines.
Thrasher, who worked as a mortgage loan originator for PNC Bank, was described by a longtime friend as an “uplifting, positive person,” who had seen her life on an upward path in the 10 years since she had settled in the Chicago area near her sister.
During that time, Thrasher had found God and a deep love of Chicago sports — particularly the Cubs.
Daily Herald staff writers Eric Peterson and Lauren Rohr contributed to this report. For more suburban news, turn to the Daily Herald at dailyherald. com.