Prosecutors claim that Jenna Strouble, 30, of St. John, Indiana, shot Jacob Lambert, the father of her children, in the back of the head while giving him a massage.
Strouble is charged with first-degree murder in the triple homicide of Lambert, 32, his mother Stacy Forde, 54, and his stepfather Patrick Forde, 55.
Strouble and Lambert started dating in 2020 and briefly lived together, prosecutors said. The Will County sheriff’s office described them as having an “on/off relationship.” They had two children together, a 4-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son.
Prosecutors said Strouble asked Lambert if he wanted to go for a drive late March 22. After picking him up, she offered to give him a back massage with a massage gun, prosecutors said.
During the massage, while Lambert was reclined on a car seat face-down, Strouble retrieved a handgun from under the car seat and held it aimed at him for what she estimated was several minutes before shooting him in the head, according to prosecutors.
After shooting Lambert, she drove back to the house on the 3400 block of East Norway Trail in unincorporated Crete where he lived with his parents and attempted to unlock the door, prosecutors said.
Patrick Forde came to the door and prosecutors allege Strouble shot him as she entered the house, then shot Stacy Forde as she came down the stairs. Patrick Forde had 17 bullet wounds while Stacy Forde had three, prosecutors said.
Strouble was apparently concerned about the custody of her and Lambert’s children, and asked her sister to take care of them, prosecutors said. When asked if she had shot the Fordes because she did not want them to have custody, she said it was part of the reason, according to prosecutors.
Strouble’s sister called the Will County sheriff’s office at about 2 a.m. March 23 to report Strouble had told her she had shot three people: Lambert and the Fordes, prosecutors said.
Deputies responding to the call found Lambert in the car and the Fordes inside the home. All three were pronounced dead at the scene.
Prosecutors said when police arrived at Strouble’s home, she gave them a bag containing a loaded handgun and waived her rights.
Prosecutors have asked that Strouble be held in pre-trial detention, partially on the basis that she had also considered killing her parents, they said.
Strouble was arrested at her home in Lake County, Indiana, then moved to Will County. Her case is being processed at the Will County courthouse in Joliet, where she will have a court appearance Tuesday, according to the Will County state’s attorney’s office.
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Dozens of neighbors came out last week for a prayer vigil for the victims outside the Forde home in unincorporated Crete.