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Back Of The Yards Woman Beaten To Death With Baseball Bat, Prosecutors Say

 Eddie Howlett, 24, is charged with first-degree murder.
Eddie Howlett, 24, is charged with first-degree murder.
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DNAinfo; Chicago Police Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — An Auburn Gresham man has been charged with murdering 42-year-old Kimberly Schnackenberg last month.

The woman was found dead, laying in a pool of blood, in a Back of the Yards alley on April 22. She'd been badly beaten with a baseball bat and kicked multiple times, prosecutors said.

Authorities believe Eddie Howlett, 24, lured Schnackenberg out of her apartment in the 2000 block of West 51st Street with the promise of drugs — before attacking her with at least three other men.

Prosecutors did not provide a motive during a bond hearing Friday, but did say Howlett was captured on surveillance video from a nearby residence.

Howlett, of the 7900 block of South Laflin Street, is charged with first-degree murder. Cook County Judge James Brown on Friday ordered Howlett held in lieu of $1 million bail.

The fatal attack started about 8 p.m. April 21 when Howlett texted Schnackenberg and told her that he had some drugs he wanted her to try, Assistant State's Attorney Matthew Howroyd said in court Friday.

Howlett went to Schnackenberg's apartment and brought the woman outside, prosecutors said. Meanwhile, at least three other men hid in a nearby alley. Those accomplices have not yet been identified or arrested.

As Howlett and Schnackenberg walked into the alley, prosecutors said, Howlett punched Schnackenberg, knocking her to the ground.

That's when the other men jumped out and began kicking Schnackenberg, Howroyd said. One of the men hit Schnackenberg in her head and body multiple times with a baseball bat, according to prosecutors. The attackers then ran off.

A passerby found Schnackenberg's body about six hours later, prosecutors said. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said Schnackenberg died of craniocerebral injuries from multiple impacts to her head.

According to Howroyd, surveillance video from a nearby residence captured the entire attack. Police arrested Howlett after multiple witnesses identified him in the video.

Howlett admitted to texting Schnackenberg minutes before the murder, prosecutors said. He did not confess to hurting her.

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