A Gurnee man has been arrested and charged with murder after prosecutors say he fatally stabbed a 34-year-old man, whom he did not know, shortly after an attempted theft in North Chicago.
Felix O. Medina, 48, of Gurnee, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, a Class M felony.
The North Chicago Police Department and North Chicago Fire Department responded around 12:20 a.m. July 19 to 10th Street just east of Adams Street on the border of North Chicago and Waukegan for a report of a person who was stabbed.
Officers arrived and found the victim, who Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek identified as Irwin Gonzalez-Pena, 34, of North Chicago.
Gonzalez-Pena was transported by ambulance to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where he was later pronounced dead, Banek said.
An autopsy performed showed Gonzalez-Pena died as a result of a sharp force injury, Banek said. He had been stabbed in the torso.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Jeffery Facklam said officers spoke to a witness, a friend of Gonzalez-Pena, who reported he was followed down the street by a man, later identified as Medina.
Medina approached the friend and pushed him. Gonzalez-Pena caught up to his friend and the suspect and a fight started.
Medina pulled something from behind his back and swung at Gonzalez-Pena.
Gonzalez-Pena and his friend began running away from the suspect but the victim suddenly collapsed not far down the street.
The friend realized Gonzalez-Pena had been stabbed and sought help.
Police were later able to identify the suspect who stabbed the victim as Medina.
Medina, Gonzalez-Pena, the witness and a fourth person were all at a liquor store down the street from where the victim was stabbed.
Police were able to recover surveillance video from the store. It showed Medina and another subject entering the liquor store to make a purchase.
Medina returned to the liquor store wearing the same clothing about three hours later, just before the murder.
The video showed Gonzalez-Pena, Gonzalez-Pena’s friend, Medina and a fourth subject, who has since been identified by investigators.
The fourth subject was seen lunging at the victim’s friend and grabbing his wallet after the friend had taken out the wallet in front of the store.
Gonzalez-Pena was seen speaking to the theft suspect, who then got into a vehicle and left the area.
The video showed the victim’s friend leaving the front of the liquor store and walking down the street. Medina was seen following him.
Gonzalez-Pena then caught up to Medina and additional surveillance video showed the three subjects walking down the street where Medina eventually caught up to the victim’s friend.
A short scuffle appeared to ensue between the three people. Medina then stabbed Gonzalez-Pena, who was unarmed.
Gonzalez-Pena’s friend also did not have a weapon.
Medina was identified by multiple people as the person in the liquor store who followed the victim’s friend down the street.
Crime scene tape surrounded a Jeep Liberty SUV, which was parked in the eastbound lanes of 10th Street facing westbound.
Police officers and detectives were seen searching for evidence along 10th Street and interviewing several people. The crime scene tape was taken down at around 1:40 a.m.
Gonzalez-Pena was from Venezuela and his wife created a GoFundMe account to help send his body back to the country for burial.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Medina pending trial and Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the request following a detention hearing on Tuesday afternoon.
“The defendant poses a real and present threat to the witnesses and the general community. The defendant followed someone he did not know and started a physical altercation with that person. During the altercation, the defendant was armed with and used a deadly weapon,” Facklam said.
Medina was on pre-trial release after having just been charged with burglary in Waukegan a month earlier. Facklam said Medina was the lookout while a second suspect broke a window to the business and burglarized it.
Prosecutors say he did not comply with the release conditions after failing to check in with pre-trial services monitoring in that case. Medina has additional prior criminal history besides the two recent cases.
Medina remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on August 18 for a preliminary hearing.