A victim remains in the ICU after being critically injured by an armed man who stabbed him eight times during a Christmas party at a home in Zion, authorities said.
The Zion Police Department responded around 2:22 a.m. Thursday to the 2800 block of Elim Avenue in Zion for a report of a disturbance at a residence.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Savannah Halcomb said the homeowner was hosting a Christmas party at her home and invited family members and friends from work.
She told officers she came out of the bathroom and saw a fight going on.
Halcomb said the victim, who is a friend of the homeowner’s from work, was stabbed repeatedly.
The Zion Fire and Rescue Department responded and transported the victim to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.
He was admitted to the intensive care unit and remains in the ICU as of Monday, Halcomb said.
The victim was interviewed and he said he came to the Christmas party where he was involved in a conversation with a man, later identified as Jose A. Tamez, 35, of Beach Park.
Tamez, who is an in-law of the homeowner, brought up the topic of drugs and then seemed to get irritated, Halcomb said.
Halcomb said that Tamez punched the victim and Tamez’s friend punched the victim’s friend, knocking him out.
The victim jumped on top of his friend to try to cover him and protect him from the two men when he felt a stab and turned around to see Tamez armed with a knife, Halcomb said.
Halcomb said Tamez had come up behind the victim with the knife and stabbed him numerous times.
He suffered eight wounds and was nicked in the heart, liver and stomach. The victim positively identified Tamez as the suspect in a photo lineup, Halcomb said.
Officers spoke with the other suspect who punched the victim’s friend and he said he went outside to fight someone and did not see anything.
He called Tamez on his phone and Tamez said that he dropped the knife in the alley, Halcomb said.
Officers spoke to a relative of Tamez and she said she saw him with a knife. Halcomb said two of the victim’s friends also said they saw Tamez with the knife.
Tamez fled the scene that night but turned himself in on Monday. He was being booked when he spontaneously told officers that he dropped the knife in the alley.
“This defendant poses a real and present threat to this victim and his friends, as well as to the general community. The defendant chose to escalate a fist fight by pulling a knife and stabbing this victim in the back repeatedly,” Halcomb said.
“There is no condition or combination of conditions that will reasonably ensure the safety of this victim or of the community short of detention,” she added.
Tamez was charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, a Class 3 felony, and aggravated battery using a deadly weapon, a Class 3 felony.
Attorney Lawrence Wade, who is representing Tamez, said three people were fighting with Tamez’s brother-in-law and he tried to break up the fight but was struck in the face.
Wade said this was a “very strong self-defense case” and his client stabbed the victim after being punched again.
Lake County Judge James Newman said that the victim was stabbed eight times while trying to protect his friend and that he believes Tamez poses a danger to the community, while granting a petition to detain filed by the state’s attorney’s office.
Tamez remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on January 21 for a preliminary hearing.