Family of DeKalb teen killed in fentanyl overdose speaks out; woman charged in his death back in custody after escape

SYCAMORE – For nearly a year, Tisha Davis has been haunted by the memory of finding her son Diamonte Dailey lying dead in his own bed, she said.

It was April 4, 2022, the morning after his 18th birthday, and she went in to check on him because he hadn’t gotten up for school. Diamonte had died from a fatal dose of fentanyl, authorities said.

“He was my diamond in the sky,” Davis said during a tearful interview Thursday at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore. Davis and Adriana DeMarco, Dailey’s sister, spoke alongside other family members after a court hearing for the woman accused in the teenager’s death.

Davis was in a DeKalb County courtroom Thursday as the woman accused of selling her son that fatal dose of fentanyl was back in court, charged with drug-induced homicide in his death. Madison H. Ricke, 23, had been on the loose in Florida after escaping from a Vernon Hills drug treatment facility, court records show.

Authorities had not publicly identified Dailey until now.

Speaking after Ricke’s court hearing, Davis said she and her family want to speak publicly about his death because they want people to know that her son is more than a statistic. Davis said she also wants others to know that opioid addiction and accidental overdoses caused by opioid-laced street drugs are ruining lives.

Ricke, of the 1300 block of East Dresser Road in DeKalb, was charged in August 2022 with drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony. If convicted, Ricke could face up to 30 years in prison. She also was charged with possession and unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and manufacturing between 1 and 14 grams of fentanyl with the intent to deliver.

She also was tagged with a new charge of escape and violation of bail bond, a Class 3 felony, for leaving the drug treatment facility and absconding to Florida, records show.

Ricke was extradited from Florida to DeKalb the week of March 13. Court records show she refused to attend a scheduled bond hearing on March 16, and instead appeared in person Thursday for a second hearing attempt.

“I wanna see her go away,” Davis said. “And I want to see the court system start actively pursuing and convicting these drug dealers. If that’s the kind of life they want to live, then they need to be held accountable, the consequences of what they’re doing, because they are ruining lives. That’s ultimately what they’re doing.”

Dailey overdosed on his 18th birthday, April 3, after he’d gone out to celebrate at Golden Corral with his family. His mother found him the morning of April 4, when he was pronounced dead, she said.

“We don’t want him written off as just another druggie in this case,” Adriana DeMarco, Dailey’s sister, said. “He did go to rehab.”

Davis said her son had struggled with drugs, but she didn’t believe he’d taken heroin except once before. He did a stint at a rehabilitation treatment facility for Xanax addiction during his 17th birthday, and had gotten clean. By his 18th birthday, however, he was dead.

“He went upstairs and evidently locked his door and took whatever he had and that was it,” Davis said. “Had I gone in there sooner, I might have changed things. And I’ve gotta live with that. And I gotta live with the last image of my son being dead in his bed.”

Ricke, her hair braided tightly across her head, acknowledged the judge as her court hearing began Thursday but otherwise did not speak.

“We don’t want him written off as just another druggie in this case.”

—  Adriana DeMarco, sister of Diamonte Dailey, who died from a fentanyl overdose on his 18th birthday April 3, 2022

She was represented by attorney Chip Criswell of the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office.

Prosecutors asked Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick to increase Ricke’s bond on the drug-induced homicide charge to $10 million, citing her criminal history and her escape. Those factors warranted stricter custody stipulations, they said.

“I would say $10 million is a bit overkill,” Criswell said in response.

In October, Buick granted Ricke a jail furlough to undergo substance abuse treatment at a Women’s Residential Services facility in Vernon Hills. She escaped police custody, however, and had been on the run since, authorities said. A warrant for her arrest was issued Nov. 17, records show. Police served her the warrant in Florida on March 13.

Ricke was arrested in August 2022 in relation to Dailey’s death. Prosecutors allege Ricke was the one who supplied Dailey with the fatal dose of drugs – a mix of heroin and fentanyl.

Prosecutors say she fled to Florida after she let her court electronic monitoring bracelet’s battery die and removed it. Police interviewed a staff member at the treatment facility who alleged Ricke had smuggled a cellphone into the facility and used it to arrange her transportation, according to court records.

Assistant State’s Attorney Scott Schwertley on Thursday asked Buick to revoke her bond on ongoing credit card forgery charges from June 2022 and felony forgery charges from December 2021. Ricke also has pending theft and forgery charges from a February 2022 incident during which she allegedly stole her former landlord’s kitchen appliances and sold them on Facebook Marketplace. Ricke was charged with felony theft in October 2021 in a separate case.

Buick denied the request to revoke Ricke’s bond, but increased it in the drug-induced homicide case, raising it to $2 million. Ricke would have to post 10% of that, or $200,000 to be released from jail. She also faces bonds in other cases which Criswell said she can’t pay.

Ricke is no longer eligible for court release for drug treatment, records show. She was ordered back in court for an arraignment on the escape charges at 2:30 p.m. April 26.

Dailey’s family said they intend to follow Ricke’s court proceedings closely, saying Ricke’s escape from the treatment facility devastated them. The family said they want to see more preventative action taken for area youth facing addiction issues.

As DeMarco’s voice cracked, she said her brother’s death still doesn’t feel real even though nearly a year has passed.

“I have two kids that he’s missing growing up,” DeMarco said. “I just had a baby and he was five months when he [Dailey] passed. He’s now walking. My daughter started school. Like, [Dailey]’s missing everything. He was an active uncle. He was my best friend in the whole world.”