A 53-year-old Chicago man has been charged with attempted first-degree murder after launching a brutal machete attack on his 38-year-old female neighbor in Lawndale.
The incident occurred around 6:25 p.m. on June 8 in the 2100 block of South Pulaski Road, according to Chicago police.
According to court documents, the victim, a construction company, was in an alley about to pay a worker when Jose Hernandez allegedly ran toward her with a machete.
Hernandez, according to prosecutors, struck the victim four or five times in the head, neck, back, arm, and torso. The incident left her with several lacerations that required stitches at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
Following the attack, the woman’s son and two other witnesses chased Hernandez into the alley, according to authorities. When they caught up with him, Hernandez allegedly swung the machete again, striking one of the men in the arm and sustaining a slight injury. The group was able to immobilize Hernandez, shoving him to the ground. They disarmed him, tossed the machete away, and returned to check on the victim, according to court documents.
Prosecutors stated in a detention petition that Hernandez “made admissions” to the police, expressing regret for the incident and admitting to drinking prior to it.
They stated that Hernandez claimed the woman owed him $800 for labor she performed and had given him three checks, but he believed she owed him a larger amount. He said she refused to pay him extra because he is undocumented, prosecutors said in a petition supporting their claims.
The woman, on the other hand, told authorities that Hernandez was a “known drunk” who had worked for her briefly in 2017 and again last year for a two-day stint before she fired him due to his drinking.
Judge Shauna Boliker granted the prosecution’s detention petition and ordered Hernandez to remain in custody pending trial.