Police arrest prime suspect in 2011 murder of Natasha Cleary and two sons

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Katonka Friar, 51, the suspect in the murder of Natasha Cleary and her two sons in 2011, has been arrested and charged with murder. Another man, Taurean Thomas, 38, has also been charged in the crime.

On April 17th, 2011, Cleary, 30, and her two sons, Marquwon Owens, 12, and Katarion Friar, 2, were found dead in a house fire on Canterbury Lane.

Investigators later determined the trio had been shot, and the house was later set on fire.

Firefighters arrived at the home, at 2708 Canterbury Lane, at 4:30 a.m. and found bones within the rubble of the southeast bedroom, authorities said.

The day of the fire, Friar, Natasha’s ex-husband and father of her 2-year-old son, arrived at the home and was arrested on an outstanding warrant for stalking.

Authorities said Cleary had filed for an order of protection against Friar in 2008 after she discovered he was having a child with another woman.

In March 2011, Cleary filed a petition against Friar for failure to pay child support, with a hearing date of April 21st, 2011.

However, while Friar was held in the county jail, another man, captured in a surveillance photo at a local ATM, tried to use Cleary’s debit card at a bank in the 3100 block of N. Rockton, just a few blocks away from Cleary’s home.

Friar was released from custody.

Police said a DNA sample obtained from Thomas in September 2024 led investigators to identify him as the person who had used Cleary’s ATM card.

In January 2025, detectives went to the federal correction center in Marion, Illinois, to speak with Thomas, who was held on a prior conviction of sexual exploitation of a child. There, Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley said Thomas admitted to being at Cleary’s home on the night of the murder.

Thomas told investigators that he gave Friar a .22 caliber revolver and ran out of the house after hearing four to five gunshots.

Hanley said additional DNA testing on the bullets used in the murder linked Thomas to the crime.

Friar faces six counts of First Degree Murder, Home Invasion, Aggravated Arson, Residential Burglary, and Concealment of a Homicidal Death, from the 2011 case, according to court records.

Thomas now faces additional charges of First Degree Murder, Home Invasion, Arson, Residential Burlary, and Concealment of a Homicidal Death.