Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – A Springfield woman will be back in court later this month after she was arrested on charges accusing her of covering up a death discovered last year.

Springfield Police say Gena English-Wheat, 59, first appeared in court last week on a charge of Concealment of a Death. She returns March 12 for a preliminary hearing and is no longer in custody.

Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon says Lillie Prindle, 86, was found in a chair in her home November 6, 2025, and already was in, “an advanced state of decomposition,” likely dead for an extended period of time.  Charging documents cite a date of August 31, 2022.

Police would not comment on reports suggesting theft of social security benefits and other money, citing an ongoing investigation.  Police did confirm the information may have come from a probable cause affidavit for English-Wheat. A Freedom of Information Act request for that affidavit has been denied.

Prindle’s cause of death is undetermined by Allmon’s office. English-Wheat and Prindle apparently lived next door to each other on Salem Road.

As part of the conditions of her release, English-Wheat was ordered to not have any contact with Prindle’s family, and to not enter Prindle’s home.