A Waukegan man accused of stabbing his stepfather-in-law 13 times and assaulting his estranged wife in North Chicago has been charged with attempted murder and multiple counts of aggravated battery.
Ramon Morales, 27, of Waukegan, is officially charged by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office with a Class X felony count of attempted murder and two Class 3 felony counts of aggravated battery, court records show.
Morales picked up one charge of aggravated battery for causing great bodily harm and the second charge for using a deadly weapon in the attack against his stepfather-in-law on Wednesday.
Morales is also facing multiple misdemeanor counts of domestic battery and violating an order of protection.
The North Chicago Police Department and North Chicago Fire Department responded around 10:50 a.m. Wednesday to the 2100 block of Wallace Avenue in North Chicago for a report of a stabbing.
Police officers and firefighter/paramedics arrived to find a 54-year-old man who was stabbed multiple times, North Chicago Police Chief Lazaro Perez said.
Paramedics rushed the man to an area hospital, where he was listed in critical but stable condition.
Police identified the suspect as the man’s son-in-law, Perez said.
“The stabbing was precipitated by a domestic between the suspect and his estranged wife who is residing in the 2100 block of Wallace with family members,” Perez said.
The suspect fled the scene after the stabbing and was later arrested without incident at a home in the 2800 block of Jolly Avenue in Waukegan.
There was a heavy police presence at both the 2100 block of Wallace Avenue and the 2800 block of Jolly Avenue, with crime scene tape surrounding both homes.
The Lake County Major Crime Task Force, which consists of investigators from police departments throughout Lake County, assisted the North Chicago Police Department with processing evidence at both scenes.
The stabbing remains under investigation by the North Chicago Police Department, Perez said.
Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney Liz Cannon said in First Appearance Court on Thursday that Morales went to the North Chicago home unannounced because his estranged wife was located there, despite an order of protection having been filed by the wife to keep him away.
Morales and the estranged wife began arguing in the yard of the home when he started hitting her, Cannon said.
Cannon added that Morales bodyslammed the wife to the ground and dragged her around the yard by her hair.
The stepfather-in-law came outside to stop the attack, Cannon said.
Morales stopped attacking the ex-wife, rushed at the stepfather, pulled out a knife, and stabbed the victim 13 times in the head, neck, and body.
The final attack resulted in the knife breaking and being lodged in the victim, Cannon said.
Cannon filed the appropriate paperwork to detain Morales in Lake County Jail until trial.
Associate Lake County Judge Randi Bruno ordered Morales detained in jail pending a Friday afternoon detention hearing.