Prosecutors say a convicted felon stabbed his stepfather in the face and neck, leaving him hospitalized, after the two got into a verbal altercation in Zion where the victim tried to calm the suspect down.
The Zion Police Department responded around 2:51 a.m. on September 7 after receiving a 911 open line where dispatchers could hear screaming in the background.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Savannah Halcomb said officers arrived at the home where the victim and the suspect, identified as Edgar Carlin, 28, of Zion, both reside.
Carlin is the stepson of the victim, who is married to Carlin’s mother.
Carlin was shirtless and covered in blood when he came to the front door when officers arrived, Halcomb said.
Blood was visible inside the home as well and Carlin told officers that the victim had beaten up his mom.
Officers spoke to the mother and she did not have any injuries and made no mention that her husband had battered her.
Halcomb said Carlin changed his story multiple times. He initially said he and the victim argued, the victim pushed him, he punched the victim in the face and they both fell to the ground.
Carlin said the victim then strangled him so he pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed the victim.
Carlin changed his story and said the victim had a knife during the altercation, Halcomb said. He said the victim grabbed something but he was not sure what it was.
Officers did not immediately locate the victim and Carlin’s mother. It was learned she had transported him to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan.
Officers spoke with the victim at the hospital and learned they were drinking at an event in Waukegan before coming home to a family reunion at their residence.
They were at the home for approximately 30 minutes when the victim went outside to smoke, Halcomb said.
Carlin’s aunt came outside to join the victim but she was intoxicated and fell in the doorway of the residence.
The victim said he believes that Carlin thought the victim had pushed his aunt and caused her to fall, which was the source of the argument, Halcomb said.
The victim told police he and Carlin got into the argument outside the home and Carlin went inside and retrieved a knife.
The two went into the living room and the victim told Carlin that it was not that serious and to put the knife down, Halcomb said.
Halcomb said the victim approached Carlin to try to get him to calm down but Carlin stabbed the man three times with the knife.
The victim was struck in the left jaw, the left side of the neck and in his right hand. He received multiple stitches on each wound, Halcomb said.
Carlin was charged with aggravated domestic battery, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and domestic battery.
“This defendant clearly poses a real and present danger to the victim in this case. He stabbed the victim multiple times in the face and neck, causing the victim to be hospitalized,” Halcomb said.
Carlin is a convicted felon and is not allowed to possess weapons. He also had two other pending criminal cases at the time of the incident.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Carlin pending trial, which was granted by Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim.
Carlin remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on Tuesday for an arraignment hearing.