Suburban man's mother walked in as he stabbed girlfriend to death: prosecutors
Anthony Jimenez
VILLA PARK, Ill. - A Villa Park man was arrested this week after allegedly stabbing his girlfriend to death during an argument.
Anthony Jimenez, 26, faces two counts of first-degree murder.
At about 10:50 a.m. on Wednesday, Villa Park police officers responded to a call of a domestic disturbance at an apartment in the 1600 block of South Michigan Avenue. On the call, Jimenez allegedly told authorities that he stabbed his girlfriend, identified as Jessica Reyes.
When officers arrived, they were met at the door by Jimenez with apparent blood on his hands and chest, prosecutors said. At that time, Jimenez was handcuffed and taken into custody.
When searching the apartment, officers located Reyes in a back bedroom bleeding on the floor. Officers administered aid until paramedics arrived and transported her to an area hospital. She was pronounced dead at 11:26 a.m. the same day.
While investigating, prosecutors said Jimenez and Reyes were at the apartment together and got into a verbal altercation at about 8 a.m.
A short time after, Reyes left the apartment, climbing down the third floor balcony to the parking lot since Jimenez would not let her leave the apartment and was blocking the door, prosecutors said.
Jimenez then allegedly went to the parking lot and spoke with Reyes. After the argument calmed down, the two went back to the apartment together, prosecutors said.
An argument then ensued again and Reyes began collecting her belongings. At that time, Jimenez allegedly pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed Reyes in the side of the head.
As Reyes fought back, Jimenez continued to stab her a total of 12 times in the neck, face, arms, chest and hands.
Jimenez only stopped stabbing Reyes when his mother entered the room, prosecutors said.
"The senseless and extremely violent end to a promising young woman’s life, as alleged in this case, will not be tolerated in DuPage County and will be met with the full force of the law. While the tragic reality is Jessica’s young life has been reduced to a statistic of domestic violence due to Mr. Jimenez’s alleged actions, my office intends to seek a full measure of justice in Jessica’s name," said DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin.
"The victim, Jessica Reyes, was only twenty-four-years-old and had her life senselessly taken from her. Jessica deserves to have her name mentioned. We pray for her and her family. This crime should serve for all as a reminder to seek help if you are a victim of domestic violence. If you find yourself to be the aggressor in a domestic violence situation, we plead with you to please seek help as well," said Villa Park Chief of Police Michael Rivas.
A judge granted the state's motion to deny Jimenez pre-trial release.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 12.