A Chicago man who told police he fatally stabbed another man in an Irving Park alley because he felt threatened by a plastic fork has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Judge Ursula Walowski issued the ruling for 30-year-old Daniel Macias after a bench trial and ordered Macias to undergo inpatient treatment. He remains in the Cook County jail awaiting placement by the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Prosecutors said surveillance cameras recorded Macias leaving his home around 9:45 p.m. on June 28, 2023, wearing Beats headphones as he walked toward the alley behind the 3600 block of North Kedzie Avenue. About 15 minutes later, the video showed him trailing 49-year-old Christopher Samaniego.
As Macias closed the distance, he removed a knife from a sheath as Samaniego reached into his backpack and pulled out a plastic fork, prosecutors said. Video allegedly showed Macias lunging at Samaniego and stabbing him once. Samaniego swung his backpack to fend him off, but Macias stabbed him two more times and fell to the ground, knocking off Macias’ headphones.
The Samaniego ran, and Macias followed. They crossed paths with a witness who called 911. Samaniego, who suffered five stab wounds, later died. Investigators recovered a broken plastic fork and a pair of Beats headphones near a pool of blood in the alley.
During Macias’ first court appearance, his defense attorney said Macias had been attempting to start an artificial intelligence company and suggested that mental health issues may have influenced the killing. Judge Walowski later found that Macias met the legal definition of insanity at the time of the stabbing.
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