3 teens charged in homeless man's fatal stabbing outside downtown restaurant, Chicago police say
'This was completely senseless. There was no reason for you to do what you did,' a judge said.
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Three teens were charged in the fatal stabbing of a man in the Loop, Chicago police said Tuesday.
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A 14-year-old boy was charged with felony murder, another 14-year-old boy was charged with armed robbery and Wuinayker Rodriguez-Vasquez, 16, was charged as an adult with first-degree murder and mob action.
Chicago police said the man was found unresponsive in the Loop's 200-block of South Wabash Avenue, near the Exchequer restaurant, around 7:20 a.m. Sunday.
The victim, who suffered an apparent puncture wound to his body, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
ABC7 Chicago has been told the victim was a man experiencing homelessness.
He has not yet been identified.
A Cook County Judge Tuesday ordered Rodriguez-Vasquez held pending trial, calling him a clear and present danger to the community.
"This was completely senseless. There was no reason for you to do what you did," the judge said.
Rodriguez-Vasquez is a Venezuelan national who has been living in Chicago for two years.
In court, prosecutors said the teens did not know the victim.
RELATED: 4 in custody after man experiencing homelessness stabbed to death outside Loop restaurant: officials
They said the 49-year-old was asleep in an alcove with his possessions next to him, including his pet cat and a skeleton mask when the group approached him.
They said surveillance video of the incident shows one teen stealing the mask then running away, while Rodriguez-Vasquez and a second 14-year-old stayed behind.
Rodriguez-Vasquez they say is then captured stabbing him once in the back, while the 14-year-old struck him with a metal rod.
The teens were arrested several hours later, after prosecutors say police officers monitoring pod camera saw them near the 2600-block of West Cermak Road.
The knife used in the stabbing was recovered.
And a relative identified Rodriguez-Vasquez as the person captured on the surveillance video.
Both of the 14-year-olds charged in connection with the murder appeared in juvenile court Monday.
A judge ordered them held in custody, as well.
Chicago police initially said a 23-year-old man was charged in the stabbing before saying the man was not charged in connection with the stabbing.
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