A man allegedly suffocated a teenage girl and stabbed her 48-year-old mother in unincorporated Lyons Township on Monday night after breaking into their home, prosecutors said.
The suspect, 35-year-old Juan Carlos Perez-Abarca of Orland Park, has been charged with attempted murder and home invasion in the incident. The Cook County Sheriff's Office said the charges are expected to be upgraded to murder.
Neighbors ABC7 spoke with Friday said they are still trying to wrap their heads around the tragedy.
"She was more than just a neighbor she was a friend, I mean she called me her sister. She called me sis," neighbor Shamonda Hall said.
Another neighbor said he saw the suspect waiting outside the apartment building days before the attack, and saw the couple argue on one occasion.
The attack happened at an apartment in the 6400-block of Joliet Road, police said. That's near the border of La Grange and Countryside.
The Cook County Sheriff's Office said one of their officers responded to a domestic violence call there around 5:30 p.m. Monday.
The officer found a man holding one of the victims, who was bleeding, at knifepoint, the sheriff's office said. A second victim was lying motionless and bleeding on the ground.
Her mother had found her with a plastic bag over her head, prosecutors said.
That's when the suspect began stabbing the victim again, and the officer shot him in the leg, the sheriff's office said.
Both victims and the suspect were taken to local hospitals in unknown conditions.
The teenage girl, who had been suffocated, died Thursday night, prosecutors said. She was identified as Emily Romo, 16, of LaGrange-Highlands. Her mother remains in serious condition.
"I mean an innocent kid, come on now, innocent," neighbor Shamonda Hall said. "Had nothing to do with nothing. Because you were mad at her mom you are going to kill her baby? No, that's not how we do things."
Neighbors describe the mother and daughter duo as loving and caring, but had no idea they were in trouble.
"I didn't know anything, and she told me everything," Hall said. I'm like why didn't she tell me this part."
Prosecutors in court Friday said the suspect had a relationship with the girl's mother, at one point. They said she broke up with him.
Perez-Abarca was discharged from the hospital Thursday night, and appeared in court in Bridgeview in a wheelchair Friday.
He was ordered held in custody at the Cook County Jail until his next court date, Sept. 5. The judge said this was "nothing short of a horrific act of violence."
Prosecutors say Perez-Abarca used a ladder to break into his former girlfriend's second-floor apartment unit while she was out, trying to obtain an emergency order of protection from him, which was denied.
In the days leading up to the attack, prosecutors say Perez-Abarca showed up at the victim's home and workplace, unwanted.
Perez-Abarca was allegedly hiding in the closet, waiting for her, before he stabbed her, prosecutors said.
The order of protection has since been granted.
Body-camera video released
The Cook County Sheriff's Office Friday also released body camera video of the incident, which may be difficult for some to watch. It shows the chaotic moment when police arrived.
ABC7 Chicago removed the audio. In it, a woman is heard crying for help as her ex-boyfriend pins her to the ground with a knife in his hand.
He then stabs her in front of police. ABC7 froze the video before that happens.
Moments later, sheriff's deputies fire at him, putting an end to the attack.
Sheriff's police detectives are conducting a criminal investigation, and the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
Perez-Abarca will remain behind bars and will be back in court next month.