A 24-year-old man walked into a police station and confessed to killing his girlfriend more than four years ago on Halloween, authorities said.
Connor Warren Scott of Danville, Indiana, was formally charged on Tuesday with two counts of first-degree murder in Clark County, Ill., where he allegedly killed his 20-year-old girlfriend, Kaylyn Whitaker, on Oct. 31, 2014.
Scott first became a suspect when Whitaker was found dead "under suspicious circumstances" in a rural residence in Martinsville, Ill., police in Indiana said.
But Illinois State Police ruled her death a suicide initially, then declared it a homicide 10 months later, according to police in Danville.
During the year after Whitaker's death, the case was referred for prosecution, Illinois State Police said in a press release this week.
In 2018, the Clark County Appellate Prosecutor’s Office planned to file charges against Scott, the state police said.
"On February 24, 2019, prior to charges being filed, Scott called the Danville Metropolitan Police Department in Indiana," Illinois State Police said.
Whitaker's parents, Dave Whitaker and Leslie Roberts, told MyWabashCounty, a local news outlet, that they are happy to finally see charges filed in their daughter's death.
"I can truthfully say to him that I do forgive him," Leslie Roberts told the news outlet of Scott. "I couldn't before when it first happened, but that's what I would say to him."
After an interview with Illinois State Police, Scott was detained in Indiana and an arrest warrant was issued with a $1 million bond on Monday. He is currently in custody at Clark County Jail.
It is unclear if Scott is represented by an attorney at this time. No hearing date had been set as of Thursday afternoon, authorities said.