Jacob Schramm “was a regular guy who made a terrible choice” when he bought and ingested fentanyl, causing his death at 43 in a Marengo motel, Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Vonau told a McHenry County jury Tuesday.

Vonau presented opening statements to the jury hearing the case of Ladell Walker, 47, of Elgin. Walker was charged with drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony, after Schramm was found dead on Sept. 12, 2023, at the Sunset Motel, where he’d been living.

Vonau said that two days before his death, Schramm had traveled to Elgin and bought the fatal dose of fentanyl from Walker. Investigators were led to Walker via text messages found on Schramm’s phone, which police also used to set up a fake drug buy with Walker, authorities said. They also followed cell tower pings placing Walker and Schramm together in Elgin at the same time and place that day, the prosecutor said.

Schramm, who worked as a mechanic, then traveled back to the motel. After not being seen for two days or answering his door, the manager, who testified Tuesday, said she entered the room and found him dead in the bathroom.

But Walker’s attorneys argued he did not sell Schramm the fatal does of fentanyl. Assistant Public Defender David Giesinger said Walker’s DNA was not found on the baggie discovered near Schramm’s body that contained the grayish powder that tested positive for fentanyl. Giesinger pointed to another man whose DNA he said was found on the baggies, along with Schramm’s and a third unknown party.

Giesinger also said text messages with Walker indicate Schramm was meeting Walker in Elgin that day to work on his truck and not to buy drugs. Giesinger closed his statement by asking the jury to hold the state to its burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and to “return a not guilty verdict.”

The motel manager was called as the state’s first witness. She testified that she would typically see Schramm a “couple times a week.” She said Schramm’s truck had not moved since Sept. 10. And on that day, she was cleaning the room next to his and heard a strange scratching sound and loud snoring coming from his room, she said.

Schramm’s father testified that his son had asthma, walked with a limp and suffered daily from pain, including in his knee, hips and back. He said his son suffered a broken back when he worked in oil fields in southern Illinois and regularly took prescribed pain medication.

McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Nicholas Clesceri testified that he responded to the 911 call and had found empty prescription drug bottles in the room, including one for oxycontin. He also found a straw in the pocket of Schramm’s pants with residue that proved positive for fentanyl and grayish powder on the sink in the bathroom near Schramm’s body. This also tested positive for fentanyl, the detective said.

Clesceri testified that Walker was the last person Schramm texted with that day and that there were no other texts with him after they met in Elgin.