Dad strangles mom to death on youngest child's birthday; 3 children were in home (Westmont, Illinois)

Dad IAN A. ALAMILLA has been arrested for "allegedly" strangling his wife to death, the mother of their 3 children, ages 2, 5, and 11. The mother had just filed for divorce and Daddy no longer lived in the home. Three young children have now been robbed of their mother--and on the birthday of the youngest child. So kind of you, Daddy, on top of everything else, to ruin this child's birthday for many years to come.

http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/westmont/newsnow/x1060310557/Murder-charges-filed-in-death-of-Westmont-woman

UPDATED: Murder charges filed in death of Westmont woman

By Dave Heitz, dheitz@mysuburbanlife.com
Suburban Life Publications
Posted Apr 12, 2010 @ 10:48 AM
Last update Apr 13, 2010 @ 10:48 AM

Westmont, IL — Murder charges were filed this morning against a man who allegedly strangled his wife in her Westmont home while the couple’s three children slept in their beds.

Ian A. Alamilla, 33, has been charged with first degree murder in the death of his wife , Tara Alamilla, 34. She was found dead in her home at about 5:42 a.m. April 10 along the 300 block of S. Park St., said Westmont police chief Tom Mulhearn. She was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

He is being held on $2 million bond, and his next court date is scheduled for Monday, May 10 before DuPage County Circuit Court Judge Kathryn Creswell, according to the DuPage County State’s attorney’s office.

Authorities said an altercation occurred between Alamilla and his wife sometime in the early morning hours of Saturday, April 10. During that altercation, Alamilla is alleged to have strangled his wife to death, and fled the home. The couple’s three children were sleeping in the home at the time, and were unharmed.

Officials said that several hours later, Alamilla turned himself into Chicago Police, and they contacted Westmont Police for a well being check on the woman, and Mulhearn said she was found dead at that time. The three children, ages 2, 5 and 11, were found sleeping in their beds when officers arrived at the home, Mulhearn said.

A spokesperson for the DuPage County Coroner’s Office said on April 12 results of an autopsy completed over the weekend are not being released at this time due to the investigation.

Mulhearn said court records indicate Tara Alamilla had filed for divorce, and that her husband was not living at the Westmont home at the time of the murder.

“We believe Alamilla was visiting the home on Friday before the altercation, and that there was a birthday party planned for the couple’s youngest child on Saturday, the day the murder occurred,” Mulhearn said.

In a press release announcing the murder charges, DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett called Tara Alamilla’s death a “heartbreaking, senseless loss of life.”

“Tragically, Tara’s life was taken on the birthday of her youngest child,” Birkett said in the release. “This case is compounded because it involves three young children who have lost their mother, and now, see their father accused of taking her life.”