Just one month after being released from prison, a man is now accused of carrying out a violent anti-gay hate crime inside a South Side halfway house, later telling police he was trying to chop another resident’s head off and was not sorry, prosecutors say.
Timothy House, 33, is charged with attempted murder, hate crime, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in connection with the December 22 attack at a halfway house in the 10400 block of South Wabash Avenue.
Prosecutors said the 55-year-old victim suffered two stab wounds to the head, a wound to the neck, and a laceration to the shoulder during the attack.
House had been living at the facility since being paroled from the Illinois Department of Corrections on November 20, where he served time for criminal sexual assault and aggravated domestic battery convictions.
The victim, who was also on parole in an unrelated case, lived across the hall from House, and the two men saw each other daily, had previously discussed religion, and the victim had disclosed to House that he was homosexual, according to prosecutors.
Shortly before 10 p.m., the victim was lying in bed when House entered his room and asked to use his phone. When the victim refused, prosecutors say House left the room but stopped in the hallway to remove a knife from the kitchen area before returning to the victim’s room.
Once inside the bedroom again, House allegedly began stabbing and beating the victim, striking him in the head and body with both the knife and his fists. The assault ended when a witness entered the room. Prosecutors say House stopped attacking the victim, hugged the witness, and told the witness he loved him before leaving the bedroom.
The witness then walked House downstairs, where House allegedly retrieved his prayer mat before leaving the residence. Both the victim and the witness called 911. Prosecutors said police detained House, whose clothes were still bloody, a few blocks away.
When the officers asked House what had happened, he allegedly told them he had committed “a terrorist attack” and asked whether there was “a lot of blood over there.”
As evidence technicians swabbed his hands, prosecutors say House stated that he hoped the victim did not have AIDS and said he had been “stabbing [the victim’s] brain.”
After receiving Miranda warnings, House allegedly asked whether the victim was dead and admitted to stabbing him in the head and beating him. Prosecutors said House told police he attacked the victim because the victim is homosexual and “not a Christian.”
House also allegedly admitted he was trying to stab the victim in the neck because he was trying to chop the victim’s head off. Prosecutors say House admitted he was “not sorry.”
Original reporting you’ll see nowhere else, paid for by our readers. Click here to support our work.
