Crime & Safety

Brittany's Friend Arrested on Battery Charge, Bond Set at $100K

A second arrest has been made in connection to the death investigation of Brittany Wawrzyniak.


Less than 30 hours after angry family members and residents shouted down the Worth Village Board demanding answers about police’s handling of a Worth teen’s death investigation, a second person has been arrested.

Police say that Brittany Wawrzyniak set up a deal to buy prescription drugs from Eric Steven Johnson, 21, the evening of Nov. 8, 2013 at a public boat launch near 115th Street and Beloit Avenue. At one point during the meeting, Wawrzyniak fell out of the car.

Lilyanna Arboleda, 18, of the 6800 block of South Kedvale Avenue in Chicago, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit battery in a public place, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said.

Find out what's happening in Paloswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The charges do not mean that Arboleda was responsible for Wawrzyniak’s death, reports said.

Brittany’s mother, Rebecca Tully, said that her daughter did not abuse drugs and that her toxicology reports came back clean from medical examiner’s office. The family believes that Brittany was pushed out of the car.

Find out what's happening in Paloswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Earlier this week, Tully and Brittany’s father, Patrick Wawrzyniak, led more than 100 residents to the Worth park district field house where the village board had previously agreed to their board meeting.

Residents screamed questions at the mayor and other elected officials, demanded answers about the way police were handling the death investigation.

Witnesses, including the woman called 911, claimed that police either didn’t contact them for months after the incident, or returned phone calls after repeated attempts to contact police with information.

Worth Police said in a press release that Wawrzyniak and Arboleda arranged the drug deal the night of Nov. 8, 2013, so that Arboleda and another could fight.

Arboleda appeared at the Cook County Courthouse in Bridgeview on Thursday afternoon, where bail was set at $100,000. She will have to have to remain under house arrest and wear an electronic monitoring device if she is able to post $10,000 bond.

Tully said said that her daughter and Arboleda were friends, but “not best friends.”



Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.