The 30-year-old man who was taken into custody after he allegedly stabbed a man to death outside a West Town diver bar late Friday has been released without being charged, police said.
A spokesperson for the Cook County State’s Attorney said, “this matter remains the subject of continuing police investigation.”
Kenneth Paterimos, 23, was fatally stabbed on the 400 block of North Milwaukee around at 11:23 p.m. by a man whom he had just argued with inside Richard’s Bar, according to police and the county medical examiner. Paterimos, who received wounds to his back, neck, and arm, died about 30 minutes later at Stroger Hospital.
Witnesses detained the other man for police, but detectives had to release him after prosecutors asked for further investigation.
“Continuing investigation”
Prosecutors last year sent 36% of the city’s homicide cases back to detectives for further investigation. That’s the highest continuing investigation percentage of any year since at least 2011, the earliest for which records are publicly available.
Only 47% of the murder cases that CPD presented to prosecutors last year resulted in charges being filed, according to the state’s attorney data. That’s the lowest approval rate since at least 2011.
And 17% of cases presented by cops last year were rejected outright, the data shows.
Chicago police drove up the department’s homicide clearance rate last year by closing out scores of aging murder cases. Those efforts may be responsible for the increased “continuing investigation” and rejection percentages.
When contacted by CWBChicago, a state’s attorney spokesperson did not identify any specific reasons for last year’s increases.