Authorities allege a Chicago woman killed her boyfriend by pouring bleach down his throat during a fight, PEOPLE confirms.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said the cause of Darrius Ellis’ death was “complication of forcible administration of a caustic substance,” an agency spokesperson tells PEOPLE.

Yasmine Elder, 24, was arrested Monday and charged with murder.

She and Ellis, 26, were sitting in a van early Monday when they got into an argument, police said in a news release. Elder allegedly overpowered Ellis and poured the bleach in his mouth around 1:45 a.m.

The father of a 5-year-old son was later found lying on the ground and taken to a hospital, where the medical examiner’s office says he was pronounced dead at 3:26 a.m.

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“He was a good kid,” Ellis’ maternal grandfather, Clarence Hebron, told the Chicago Tribune. “Everybody loved him.”

Police found Elder on the street where she lives and arrested her about 5:30 p.m. Monday, according to the release.

She was in court Thursday and ordered held on a $1 million bond, reports the Associated Press.

Prosecutors alleged in court that Elder pinned down her boyfriend with her knees, grabbed Ellis by the hair, and poured the bleach — some of which he swallowed — over his face.

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The medical examiner’s office ruled the manner of Ellis’ death to be homicide.

It could not be determined whether Elder has been assigned an attorney or had entered a plea.



