This is going to be a departure from the stories I’ve posted in the past, but because two children were harmed by an adult and other children may be at risk, I’m making an exception to my usual content guidelines.

The following story is about the daughter of my friend Jessie, who is a tireless advocate for abused and murdered children (not to mention a mom of six with one on the way). Now, Jessie’s daughter, who I’ll call E, deserves justice. Fortunately, E survived this ordeal, although it has taken a toll on her mental health. 

The reason I’m writing this article is because the woman responsible for this savage, unprovoked attack on two children is still at large, and that needs to be remedied as soon as possible.

I’ll start with the initial incident, which took place just before 6:00 PM on October 1, 2021. E and her friend M decided to ride their bikes from E’s father’s home in Streator, Illinois to nearby Lion’s Park, located at the intersection of S. Wasson and Wilson Streets. After the girls arrived at the park, where several other children had gathered to play, they were approached by an irate woman, who, without any apparent provocation, chased after a boy who was able to escape on his bicycle. Undeterred, the woman then yanked 13-year-old M off her bike and punched her in the face, bloodying her nose.

Another child at the park had the presence of mind to begin recording the incident, capturing the woman focusing her inexplicable violence on 12-year-old E. The video, which can be seen below, shows the woman grabbing E’s hair and savagely punching the girl in the face and head. While the attack took place, E later reported, the woman screamed at her, repeatedly calling the child ugly.

After delivering a brutal and baffling beatdown on two neighborhood children, the woman fled the park. M frantically called her mother’s boyfriend while E’s 10-year-old brother ran home and told their stepmother, Jamaica, who hurried to the park and called the police to report the attack. 

Upon the arrival of Streator Police Officer Robert Sauers, Jamaica reported that her stepdaughter was attacked by a woman in dark colored pants and a gray shirt. Multiple other witnesses told the same story, and the officer viewed the cell phone video of the incident. The attacker was identified as 25-year-old Briana Sharay Majercin of Streator, who was well known to the Streator Police and to DCFS. Not only have Briana’s own four children been removed from her custody in the past, but she also has a criminal record so long that my jaw literally dropped when I saw it; over the past decade or so, she has faced dozens of charges including resisting arrest, assault and battery, prostitution, traffic violations, and numerous orders of protection. 

Based on her criminal past, this is by all indications a violent woman who couldn’t give less of a damn about anyone else’s safety and wellbeing, let alone obeying the law.

After interviewing E, M, and other witnesses at the scene, Officer Sauers, along with other officers from the Streator Police Department, visited Briana at her home on South Sterling Street, where she answered the door wearing dark pants and a gray t-shirt, as seen in the evidence video. When asked what happened at the park, Briana, who was unaware of the cell phone video, told him nothing had happened. 

Officer Sauers ran Briana’s name through the Illinois Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS), which turned up two active warrants for the woman:

• Failure to appear (FTA) on a charge of resisting a peace officer from LaSalle County
• FTA on a charge of battery out of LaSalle County

As a result of the warrants, Briana was taken into custody without incident. At the Streator Police Department headquarters, Briana was handed a notice to appear for her misdemeanor battery charge resulting from the attack at the park. 

Officer Sauers wrote in his report that Briana was booked, processed, and taken to the LaSalle County Jail on her active FTA warrants. She was also charged with misdemeanor battery for her attack on the girls in the park. Briana quickly bonded out of jail.

At around 6:40, Officer Sauers asked Briana if she would like to tell him anything else about the incident at the park, to which she agreed to fill out a statement form. Prior to completing the form, Briana was read her Miranda rights. On her statement form, Briana claimed that she had been upset to find out that children at the park were “licking dirty condoms” and went to the park to speak with the children. She denied physically attacking anyone at the park. 

It’s important to note that the “dirty condom” story never came up during Briana’s initial interview with officers; she apparently fabricated the story as a poor excuse for attacking innocent children in the park. Only later did Briana’s family members start spreading the rumor that Briana’s four-year-old child, who was playing unattended at the park, was one of the children licking used condoms.

After paying her paltry bond, Briana returned home. Is that where this story ends? Unfortunately, not even close.

At about 10:00 PM the same evening, Streator Police Officer Michael Gerardo responded to the Majercin home on S. Sterling Street, where Briana yelled at him to call an ambulance, claiming her teenage sister, who I’ll call M.M., had received a head injury in a fight. M.M. had no obvious injuries, but because she was holding her head and complained it hurt, the officer summoned an ambulance.

According to Briana, the altercation occurred in front of her home when E’s stepmother, Jamaica, showed up with her “whole family” and started to fight with Briana and her sister. Afterward, Briana claimed, Jamaica and her family members fled back to their house. 

Officer Gerardo was unable to locate a single witness who could corroborate Briana’s story, however.

When he responded to Jamaica’s home, he heard the real story from multiple witnesses, including family members and neighbors. Jamaica told the officer a vehicle pulled up in front of their home – contrary to Briana’s claim that the fight took place in front of her home – and “a lot of people got out,” shouting and demanding a fight. According to Jamaica, MM approached her and began pushing and punching her, forcing Jamaica to defend herself.

Next door, Officer Gerardo spoke with a neighbor named Tina, who told him she heard people yelling outside and looked out her window to see a vehicle pull up in front of Jamaica’s home. People exited the vehicle, Tina said, and a fight ensued between her home and Jamaica’s. As Tina was an independent witness not related to either party, her account carries much more weight than the uncorroborated one told by Briana Majercin.

The next day, Briana’s mother, Erica, contacted Officer Gerardo wanting to know why “nothing was done” after Jamaica supposedly beat up her younger daughter, MM. She wanted Jamaica charged with battery just like Briana was charged for “allegedly” battering a minor. Officer Gerardo informed Erica that based on his investigation and the independent witness account, her daughters had instigated the fight the night before, to which Erica retorted that he was “ignorant” and should “have a heart.”

The case was forwarded to the LaSalle County state’s attorney’s office for review. In the meantime, E’s mom, Jessie, and stepmom, Jamaica, joined forces, creating a petition to have Briana’s misdemeanor battery charges upgraded to felony charges. 

Very quickly, Briana’s family began running damage control, spouting off on social media to anyone who would listen that Briana had only attacked 12-year-old E because she supposedly forced the previously mentioned “dirty condom” into Briana’s four-year-old child’s mouth. At the time of Briana’s attack, E and M had only been at the park for approximately five minutes. Briana’s cronies also began making up stories about past abuses they claimed E had inflicted upon other children, none of which were true. 

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E, who had already been battling depression and anxiety prior to being jumped by a grown-ass lunatic in the park, quickly took a turn for the worse. About a week after the attack, she was placed on suicide watch, and in mid-October, she was hospitalized for inpatient psychiatric care, where she remained for about a week and a half. 

On October 21, 2021, thanks in no small part to the social media campaign led by Jessie and Jamaica and the petition to upgrade the charges garnering over 450 signatures, the LaSalle County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Briana Majercin with aggravated battery of a child under 13 causing bodily harm (for her attack on E) and aggravated battery in a public place (for her attack on M), both of which were class 3 felonies, which could incur a prison sentence of five to ten years plus considerable fines. Another warrant was issued for Briana’s arrest for the new charges. 

Indictments on both felony counts were returned on November 9, at which time Briana did not appear in court. Judge Cynthia Raccuglia ordered Briana’s bond to remain at $25,000, although she had not yet been arrested on the felony charges. The warrant, the judge ordered, would stand.

Over the next two months, Jessie – who is currently pregnant – spent every moment of her spare time advocating for her child, relentlessly spreading the story everywhere she could and ensuring the Streator Police Department was well aware that she would not back down until her daughter’s attacker was arrested. As of this writing, however, Briana Majercin remains at large, even though police know her address and believe she and her boyfriend, Jody – who also reportedly has active warrants against him –  are currently holed up in her home on South Sterling Street with her four children. Briana’s previous case, which involves battery, resisting arrest, and destruction of property, has been ongoing since 2019; since then, she has bonded out of jail, failed to appear in court, and been rearrested no less than five times. 

Still, for some unfathomable reason, she remains free.

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Despite an active arrest warrant, police cannot simply enter Briana’s home and arrest her without obtaining an additional search warrant, for which they currently do not have grounds. If she doesn’t exit her home or answer the door, their hands are tied. 

Even so, all of the noise Jessie has been making has not gone unnoticed. The Streator City Council, State’s Attorney Todd Martin, and Assistant State’s Attorney Greg Sticka have reached out to the Streator Police Department, hounding them to make an arrest. While most of the police force were unaware of Briana’s latest crime, as soon as he learned about her attack on these innocent children, Sergeant Troy Dodge took an active interest in the case. While I don’t want to reveal the specifics of his investigation, suffice it to say that Sergeant Dodge is doing everything he can to ensure 25-year-old Briana Majercin faces the consequences of her criminal actions.

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Jessie reports that E is now on medication and regularly attends therapy appointments. Both E and M are eager for the LaSalle County DA’s office to put their attacker behind bars where she belongs.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Briana Sharay Majercin, please contact the Streator Police Department at (815) 672-3111.

Sources: Family members; Shaw Local; police reports; Change.org; LaSalle County online court records