"I had no idea that I was lured there as a victim.
Suddenly I saw a man wearing a ski mask and holding a large handgun. I knew immediately something was very, very wrong. It was 11:30 a.m. in the morning but this man ran after me in broad daylight and attacked me. I was certain I was not going to make it out of this alive."
This story is told by the victim's point of view. All individuals are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Serena Abbott, a 24-year-old resident of Marion, Illinois was excitedly looking for a new apartment. Serena owns her house but due to a recent uptick in crime, she wanted to move to a safer place. Teens and young adults have broken out almost all of the windows in her home while Serena works full time. She had heard excellent things about Hamilton apartments in Energy, Illinois from an acquaintance of hers nicknamed "Nano."
As you can imagine, Serena was extremely excited when the landlord (named Gloria) of the apartments reached out to her and told her that she had an opening for an apartment! Nano had informed Serena about the opening when Serena texted her and asked her about it. Nano provided the phone number for the landlord, "Gloria".
On August 22nd, Gloria told Serena that she could come check out an apartment. You will see the conversation below in screenshots. Serena was told to come alone but she didn't think much of it because Gloria claimed she was doing her a huge favor by telling her husband, who allegedly helped run the apartments with Gloria, that Serena was a single mother.
Now Serena was traveling with the father of her child that day. They are one of those couples that co-parent great together. Gloria told her that she had to take him somewhere else. Serena was so excited to get an apartment in a safer area that she agreed to do so.
Serena has had a very rough two years. Serena's 18 month old baby was killed in a car accident. A semi truck driver was experiencing road rage while driving in Fairfield, Illinois. He hit the vehicle that 18 month old, Odin Hensley, was traveling in with his father's girlfriend. They were struck while they were trying to pull into their driveway. Sadly, Odin lost his life.
Serena received money in a wrongful death lawsuit. The man who experienced road rage and took her child's life has never faced any charges. Serena, a woman who has worked very hard at the same job for half a decade, decided it would be best to pay Gloria the nearly $2,000 for the first and last month's rent as well as the deposit. Serena brought $18,000 so she could pay her rent up until January and then buy the big ticket, expensive items that she was bringing with her to move into the new apartment. Gloria wanted her in the apartment immediately. Gloria seemed adamant to get a lot of money to ensure Serena was serious about getting the apartment. She kept repeating that she didn't want Serena to "mess around with her". Serena reassured her that she was excited to take care of her new home and make it beautiful. She assured Gloria that she had the money.
It was going to be Serena's well deserved fresh start. She was so very excited that day. After paying for her new home she was going to switch over all of her bills and buy new things for the apartment that day. She brought her niece and other relatives so they could go out and have fun shopping for the cool things for her new home. Serena knew that was a lot of money to carry on her, so she wore a fanny pack that was clipped to her and attempted to bring three family members with her. She also knew she would be spending the money pretty quickly that day.
Serena was told to meet the landlord at 206 Pine Street, apartment C, in Energy, Illinois. She had spoken about another apartment but that was the first apartment she was supposed to look at. Gloria told her to come on over without anyone else because as Gloria said, "my husband doesn't like a crowd".
Serena wanted to make a good first impression so she showed up early and she showed up alone. She waited in her car for a little bit until she started making calls a little after 11:00 to let Gloria know that she was waiting for her. Gloria hung up as soon as Serena called her, but Gloria tried to call her back and then hung up on Serena. She then texted Serena and told her she had bad service. Gloria told Serena to wait in the parking lot. Serena was so excited she decided to peek at the apartment. Gloria had told her previously that the apartment would be unlocked so she could go look at it. Serena found the appropriate apartment and heard people inside. She assumed it was Gloria and her husband. She knocked on the door several times. She also texted the landlord and let her know that she was knocking on the door.
Finally, a young mother in her twenties answered the apartment door. Serena excitedly told her that she was coming to look at the apartment. Serena said, "She looked at me like she was very confused. She told me that she lived there and she didn't plan on moving anytime soon. I decided I must have not been correct about the apartment. There was another building so I walked over to that building and realized the numbers did not match the numbers I was given. I walked out to my vehicle and called Nano. I had been speaking to her all day about the apartment and I wanted to let her know that I wasn't able to find it. This was at 11:30 in the morning."
"I was daydreaming the entire day about how I was going to decorate my new apartment for fall and Halloween. I was just really excited.
I had no idea that I was lured there as a victim. While I was on the phone with Nano, almost immediately after she picked up the phone, I saw a man on my right, he was in a sort of hidden area next to the building. He was wearing a ski mask and holding a large handgun. I knew immediately something was very, very wrong. It was 11:30 a.m. in the morning but this man ran after me in broad daylight and attacked me. I was certain I was not going to make it out of this alive. My adrenaline kicked in quickly and everything felt in fast motion," Serena shared.
Serena continues, "I'm 5 ft and here comes this armed man that is so much taller than me. I was terrified. It is the most scared I have ever been. This is the scariest thing I have ever gone through other than when I lost my son. The man was dressed in all black and he was wearing one of those silk newer ski mask where you can see their eyes and their nose. He had his hoodie tied up tight around his face. When I saw the handgun I knew I was in a lot of trouble. I told Nano that I was being robbed and she didn't say much. I think she said a couple of times "what is happening" and similar phrases. He ran up to me and started hitting me. He used a lot of expletives and demanded that I give him all of my money. I refused to give him all of my money. I went to the ground and hugged myself trying to protect my fanny pack, as well as myself. I stayed on the phone with Nano and she heard all of it. I fought back very hard for 5 minutes straight. I could tell he was starting to wear himself out. That's when I saw him raise the handgun and he struck me in the face as hard as he possibly could. I urinated myself immediately. It was just a response that happened as soon as I was hit in the face and I am not sure why it happened other than it hurt really bad and it is the hardest I've ever been hit. I knew the next thing would be him taking the money from my lifeless body so I handed him the money. He ran off. He tripped once really hard and landed on his stomach but he got back up and ran again."
Serena called 911 and then traveled to Nano's house who lived very nearby. She was seriously injured and she knew Nano would protect her and help her find the man before he got too far away with her money.
"When I got to Nano's house, I was shaken up. I know now that I had a concussion at the time and I had an open wound on my earlobe that was making a mess everywhere. I dropped my keys as I ran up to her front door but I noticed they landed right next to my car. I have a lanyard and a little doll on my keys. Nano let me beat on her door for 2 minutes before she answered. When she finally answered she seemed concerned. She handed her baby to me and said that we needed to get in the car and look for the guy before he got away. Almost immediately we saw the police and she told me she didn't want to have anything to do with them," Serena said.
She added, "When we saw the police, Nano asked me if I wanted to speak to them. I told her that of COURSE I wanted to speak to them, I absolutely wanted to speak to them because I was just robbed! She told me I had to do it alone. When I arrived back at her house I went to grab my keys and they were gone. I was so confused. I saw an elderly man driving by so I waved him down, he drove me to the police scene which was very close by. I told the cops everything. When they saw the text messages they let me know that I was part of a scam. I felt so stupid, I really did. They reassured me that these people have been doing this for a long time and that they are really good at what they do but I still wish I would have seen the red flags. I hope my story can help others at the very least."
"The police wanted to speak to Nano immediately. When they spoke to her over the phone she said she was taking her child to Marion, Illinois. I had to pretend like I didn't know she was part of the scam. I called her and asked her to meet up with me to look for my keys. I found out later that someone had gotten into my car when I was driving to Nano's house after the attack. They had the car in reverse and they locked my lanyard and my doll inside of the car. They even posed my doll in the middle console.
When I arrived with the police she gave me a huge hug. I was infuriated. But I had to act cool and level-headed. My mom made it to the scene and she was very direct with Nano and let her know that she knew that Nano was part of the scam. I knew the armed robber was Nano's cousin that resides with her. It was extremely hard to keep level-headed but I did it."
Everyone involved is wanted by the police. Nano and the armed robber both have warrants pertaining to this case. Nano's real name is Anissa Heymon. Anissa had been in jail on August 21st and was released. She literally helped set up this scam the day after being released from jail.
Tyreon Taylor is the suspected armed robber. He is Nano's cousin. He shared a video on Tik Tok of him with the thousands of dollars. He captioned it "Only down until I'm up again 🥱🥱".
The woman Serena was talking to named "Gloria" that was supposedly a landlord was actually allegedly Nano's girlfriend, Demorah Duncan.
The alleged armed robber, Tyreon Taylor Ford, was released from Decatur Jail less than 2 weeks ago for serious firearm charges and drug charges.
"While the police were speaking to Nano, we saw her get a text message saying, 'At least we are rich now!' She immediately deleted the message when she got it," Serena shared.
Serena has not been able to sleep hardly at all since the attack. She is still suffering from the concussion. Serena told me that she constantly sees the image of that man over and over again.
I will be sharing all of the wanted individuals photographs and I will caption each one with their name. If you see any of these individuals please contact the Williamson County Sheriff's Department at 1-618-997-7541 and ask to speak with Detective Ferrell.
Serena truly appreciates everyone who took the time to read her story. She hopes enough people share this story with the images that someone will come forward and tell the police where these individuals are hiding.
Serena is still grieving the loss of her son Odin that she lost on April 28th 2022.
Rest in peace, Odin. 💙
Photographed below- in the white shirt and jeans is Tyreon Taylor. He is the armed robbery suspect.
In the red pigtails is Anissa Heymon "Nano". This is how her hair was most recently.
In the third picture with a face scribbled out is Demorah Duncan or "Gloria".
The fourth picture is how Serena appears today after being struck on the left side of her face. She was treated at the hospital.
The next four pictures that are black and green screenshots are the conversations between Serena and "Gloria".
The last photograph is Serena's sweet baby boy that is now in heaven, Odin Hensley.
More photos below.
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