Prosecutors on Saturday charged a Chicago man with attempted murder for allegedly choking his girlfriend and beating her with a baseball bat while he was on bail for a felony gun case.
He is the 46th person accused of killing or shooting—or attempting to kill or shoot—someone in Chicago while awaiting trial for a felony this year. The alleged crimes involved at least 84 victims, 21 of whom died. CWBChicago is not naming the man to protect the woman’s identity. They have two children in common.
Chicago police responded to the couple’s home on Thursday to handle calls of a domestic disturbance. The woman, who crawled out of a rear window to get help because she thought the man would kill her, sought help from a neighbor, officials said.
She told police the man hit her repeatedly in the legs with a metal baseball bat and choked her.
“It’s over with,” he allegedly told the woman. “We’re both going to die today.”
The woman managed to break free, but he caught her and continued to punch her in the head, according to prosecutors. When he grabbed the bat to hit her again, she slashed his face with a piece of broken floor tile and ran for help, screaming that he was trying to kill her, officials said.
Doctors stitched up an injury on her hand. Police reported seeing bruises on her legs and torso, too.
The man was convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery for an incident involving the same woman in 2019, prosecutors said. CPD records show he has been arrested ten other times since 2015, including for a felony gun charge in 2021, but prosecutors said he has no other convictions.
In August, the man posted $300 to get out of jail after prosecutors charged him with felony unlawful use of a weapon for allegedly carrying a firearm in a crossbody bag while hanging out with a crowd near a liquor store.
That gun case is still pending.
He is now charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery by strangulation, and domestic battery. Judge Mary Marubio held him without bail in the pending gun case until the judge handling that matter reviewed the new allegations.
She ordered the man to pay a $25,000 deposit toward bail to get out of jail on the new charges. He must go on electronic monitoring with GPS if he posts bail, Marubio said.
The “not horrible” series
This report continues our coverage of individuals accused of killing, shooting, or trying to kill or shoot others while on bond for a pending felony case. CWBChicago began our series of reports in November 2019 after Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans publicly stated, “we haven’t had any horrible incidents occur” under the court’s bond reform initiative.
The actual number of murders and shootings committed by people on felony bail is undoubtedly much higher than the numbers seen here. Since 2017, CPD has brought charges in less than 5% of non-fatal shootings and 33% of murders, according to the city’s data.
