Investigators call Creve Coeur couple’s deaths a murder-suicide

By Holly Eitenmiller For Chronicle Media

Jeremy Brown, 42, and of Billie Castellano, 34, were found shot to death in their Creve Coeur apartment on April 5.

Family and friends are mourning the death of young Creve Coeur couple who died April 5 in what Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stuart Umholtz confirmed was a murder-suicide following a domestic dispute.

The bodies of Billie Castellano, 34, and her fiancé, Jeremy Brown, 42, were discovered in their apartment on the 100 block of S. Thorncrest Avenue around 4 p.m. by Creve Coeur police officers.

In a news release, Creve Coeur police chief Dale King said police were responding to requests for a welfare check on the couple, who were not answering phone calls or replying text messages for several hours.

Illinois State Police are investigating the deaths. Umholtz said preliminary autopsy results from Tazewell County Coroner Dr. Jeff Baldi indicate Castellano and Brown both died of gunshot wounds to the head which resulted from an “apparent homicide by Jeremy Brown.”

“There will unlikely be any criminal charges,” Umholtz said, eliminating the possibility of suspicious circumstances. Final autopsy results will not likely be available for several weeks.

Tazewell and Peoria County records show little more than a long line of traffic offenses for Brown, and recent posts to Castellano’s Facebook page feature romantic photos of the couple, along with doting photos of her with the couple’s three dogs.

Comments on some of the couple’s photos indicate the two were engaged to be married.  The social media response to the deaths shows a stunned silence from those close to the couple, with only a few posts in the immediate aftermath.

Among them, Steph Armentrout wrote, “Rest in peace my dear, sweet friend. I’m eternally grateful for the time we had together and will cherish it forever. So many people loved you. You brought joy, sunshine, love, understanding and generosity into the lives of everyone you knew. I’m so sorry that I was wrong when I said everything will be okay. I love you, Billie Castellano.”

 

 

 

 

— Investigators call Creve Coeur couple’s deaths a murder-suicide