A Waukegan man accused of stabbing his stepfather-in-law 13 times and assaulting his estranged wife outside of a North Chicago home has been ordered detained in Lake County jail on charges of attempted murder and aggravated battery.
Lake County Circuit Court Judge Michael Nerheim ordered that Ramon Morales, 27, of Waukegan, be held in Lake County jail on a Class X felony count of attempted murder and two Class 3 felony counts of aggravated battery.
Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Morales with one of the aggravated battery charges for causing great bodily harm to the stepfather, and the second charge for using a deadly weapon in Wednesday’s attack.
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 a portion of the knife breaking off and being lodged in the victim’s head.
Cannon filed the appropriate paperwork to detain Morales in Lake County Jail until trial on Thursday, prompting Morales to appear for a Detention hearing with Nerheim on Friday.
Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney Jeffrey Facklam said in court Friday that the estranged wife had filed five orders of protection against Morales — including an emergency order on June 3, the day before the attack.
Facklum echoed what was previously said in court regarding the attack, but added that the stepfather-in-law was in critical condition but has since been shifted to stable condition in the hospital.
Facklam also said Morales was previously ordered in court to turn over three firearms to police that he took from his wife.
However, that weapon exchange has yet to happen, and police have not been able to locate the firearms.
Facklam added that the defendant called the wife 41 times from the time the order of protection was issued against him, and repeatedly threatened to hurt her and her family members.
Defense attorney Gregg Wolpoff said the stabbing was a matter of self-defense and that the stepfather-in-law threw a glass bottle at Morales before the attack started.
Nerheim declared the charges were “as serious as it gets” before ordering Morales detained because the attacker went to the house uninvited, despite knowing he wasn’t allowed to do so, attacked the ex-wife, and stabbed the victim 13 times.
“I also note the defendant has been the respondent in five orders of protection and recognize, based on the specific facts of this case, there are no other conditions I can impose that would mitigate the threat established,” Nerheim said. “Therefore, he is detained.”
Morales is due back in court on June 25.