Daevin Wlodek died days before his 29th birthday as prosecutors began building a murder case against his girlfriend.
YORKVILLE, Ill. — Daevin Gregory Wlodek’s family remembered him as a father with an adventurous spirit, a sharp sense of humor and a deep love of skateboarding. In court records, his final hours are described very differently: an argument, a gunshot inside a Yorkville apartment and an investigation that led to murder charges against his girlfriend.
Wlodek was 28 when he died July 18, less than two weeks before his 29th birthday. His obituary said he found freedom and purpose in skating and often said, “Skating is my therapy.” His family wrote that he hoped to turn that passion into a career, whether by skating professionally or designing gear and clothing for the community around the sport. The obituary described him as a devoted father, son, brother and friend. That account of his life now stands beside a criminal case in which prosecutors accuse Lindsy Kendrick, 31, of shooting him in the back as he tried to leave their shared residence.
Police were summoned to the 100 block of West Hydraulic Avenue at about 1:36 a.m. after Kendrick called 911 to report a shooting. When officers arrived, they found the door open and Wlodek on the floor just inside the home. A handgun was nearby. Emergency personnel began treating him and paramedics transported him to Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora, but he was pronounced dead. Kendrick was the only other person police reported finding inside the residence, and officers took her into custody without incident.
The first explanation investigators heard from Kendrick was that Wlodek had attacked her and then shot himself. Police said she was still on the phone as officers entered and they overheard her tell the other person that Wlodek had a gun and had fired it. Later, after receiving a Miranda warning, she described the confrontation and said both she and Wlodek had been in a “fit of rage,” according to court documents cited by local media. She also told investigators several times that Wlodek had been trying to leave immediately before he was wounded.
That last detail became significant after the medical examination. The autopsy found that a bullet entered Wlodek’s back and exited through his chest. The physician who performed the examination considered a self-inflicted wound unlikely, according to the court records. Wlodek also had scratches and bruises on his neck, hands and lower extremities. Long blond hair was found tangled in the fingers of his right hand. Prosecutors said Kendrick showed no injuries. Authorities have cited those observations in disputing her original account, although they do not by themselves answer every question about the altercation.
Investigators also obtained a timeline from a nearby surveillance system. Police reports described by local media said video from a brewery showed a man matching Wlodek’s description running toward the residence around 1:15 a.m. At 1:22 a.m., a single quick, loud sound consistent with a gunshot could be heard. The emergency dispatch followed at 1:36 a.m. The surveillance record, as publicly described, did not show who fired a gun. Its importance is chronological: it places a person believed to be Wlodek near the home shortly before the sound police associated with the shooting.
Detectives sought additional forensic evidence after Kendrick’s arrest. Reports based on the court documents said she declined a gunshot-residue test, but investigators collected evidence under an exigent-circumstances basis. The reports reviewed for this article did not disclose a conclusive laboratory result from that evidence. The prosecution’s early public case therefore rests on a combination of factors: Kendrick’s statements, the autopsy, the location of the wound, physical injuries, the weapon at the scene, surveillance timing and other evidence gathered by Yorkville police.
Kendrick was ultimately charged with six counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated battery with a firearm, one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, according to local court reporting. The charges are accusations and do not amount to proof of guilt. Public accounts reviewed for this article did not reproduce the complete charging instrument, so the precise statutory theory behind each of the six murder counts cannot be stated with certainty from the available reporting.
Prosecutors also disclosed that Kendrick had been serving probation from an earlier case. Court records cited by Patch said she had been convicted in Cook County of three felony aggravated-battery counts and sentenced in April to two years of probation. Her Illinois Firearm Owner’s Identification card had been revoked by the time Wlodek was killed. That record formed part of the state’s argument against pretrial release and is relevant to the separate allegation that she unlawfully possessed a firearm as a felon. It does not establish whether she committed the charged murder.
The contrast between the criminal filings and Wlodek’s obituary is especially stark because the legal record necessarily concentrates on the final minutes of his life. His family’s remembrance reaches further back. It said Wlodek loved adventure, making people laugh and spending time with people close to him. He was remembered as someone whose presence could brighten a room and who tried to make ordinary moments memorable. His obituary identified his son, Kaiden Adam Lara-Wlodek, his father, George Wlodek, and his sister, Emmalynn Wlodek, among surviving family members.
The obituary also identified Shawnie White as Wlodek’s wife and said the two continued to support one another even as their relationship changed over the years. News and court reports describing the homicide investigation referred to Kendrick as Wlodek’s girlfriend and said Wlodek and Kendrick shared the Yorkville residence. The available sources do not provide enough information to explain those relationships further, and no additional conclusion about them is necessary to understand the criminal allegations.
For police, the investigation centered on what happened inside the residence. Deputy Chief Garrett Carlyle said evidence strongly supported the department’s conclusion that the shooting occurred there. No publicly accessible report reviewed for this article identified a person who directly witnessed the gun being fired. That places added importance on the forensic record and on whether prosecutors can persuade a court that the physical evidence fits their accusation better than Kendrick’s initial statement that the wound was self-inflicted.
For Wlodek’s family, however, the case is only part of what remains after his death. Their published remembrance described a young father who wanted a future connected to a sport he loved and who remained part of a large extended family. It noted that his mother, Kellie Ann Wlodek, died before him and listed relatives on both sides of his family. The obituary’s focus on his relationships and ambitions provides context often absent from the early stages of a homicide case, when most public information comes from police reports, autopsy findings and charging documents.
Initial coverage said Kendrick was held in the Kendall County Jail and was expected in court July 28. A search of publicly accessible reporting through Aug. 27 did not establish the result of that scheduled hearing or show that the case had reached a plea, trial or final judgment. Prosecutors therefore still must prove their allegations through the judicial process, and Kendrick is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Author note: Last updated Aug. 27, 2026.