A Lake in the Hills man accused of providing a fatal dose of cocaine to a woman he knew had a heart condition has been denied pretrial release from the county jail.
Karl M. Petermann VI, 43, is charged with drug-induced homicide in the death of a 41-year-old woman who had lived with him and with whom he shared a child, according to a criminal complaint in McHenry County court and prosecutors.
Authorities said his arrest Thursday was the result of a months-long investigation that included the Illinois State Police North Central Narcotics Task Force, the Lake in the Hills Police Department and the McHenry County Coroner’s Office, with assistance from the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Assistant State’s Attorney Nick Sheppard said in court Friday that text messages prior to and on July 28, 2025, indicate Petermann was providing cocaine to the woman, whose death was determined to be caused by cocaine toxicity. The prosecutor also referred to texts after her death with another person who said they needed to “lay low” for a while and statements Petermann made to police pointing to his guilt.
Among the texts Sheppard noted was one the deceased woman sent four days before her death saying Petermann left her with a pipe with cocaine resin to scrape so they could smoke it. This proves he was “supplying her with drugs,” Sheppard said.
Another text, Sheppard said, shows Petermann telling the woman not to smoke crack he had left in the home. That menssage, Sheppard said, shows that sometimes Peterman had left crack for her.
Cell data also puts the two together about the time of her death, according to authorities.
The prosecutor said before the woman’s death, Petermann already was being investigated for possible drug dealing out of his residence. Sheppard argued the proof is evident Petermann supplied the cocaine that killed the woman.
If he is released from jail, he would be a threat to another woman with whom he lives, as well as the community, and there are no conditions that could ensure he would not sell drugs, the prosecutor said, to which Judge Joel Berg agreed to detain Petermann.
Assistant Public Defender Kim Messer had argued for his release with conditions so he could work, care for his child and keep his apartment. She denied he is a threat to the community and insisted there is no evidence presented proving Petermann supplied the woman with the fatal dose of cocaine.
Messer said the woman suffered a heart attack, and Petermann was not in the home at the time. He arrived about 4:30 or 5 p.m. and he and another person found her and called 911. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The woman had been living in a rehabilitation facility for medical reasons and on this day was visiting their child, who lived with Petermann, Messer said. The public defender also said an autopsy showed the woman had cocaine and cocaine metabolites in her system, but they were below the amount that would contribute to a fatal overdose.
Messer also said that although police had secured a search warrant for the home following the woman’s death, they did not executed it, because there was no evidence of criminal activity or a drug-induced homicide at the home.
No evidence was presented “at all” indicating he delivered “any sort of drug,” Messer said.
In announcing his decision to detain Petermann, Berg referred to the probable cause statement. He noted a statement that showed they were “partying” that day, knowing the woman had a heart condition and that she was supposed to go for a procedure the following day.
Knowing this, Berg said, “I can’t imagine a more dangerous” defendant or come up with any conditions that would protect anyone from him.
If convicted on the Class X felony, Petermann faces six to 30 years in prison. He is due back in court Thursday on a hearing to revoke conditional discharge he was given in November after pleading guilty to an unrelated Class A misdemeanor charge of attempting to deliver cocaine, records show.