Aurora man pleads guilty to West Chicago stabbing murder
The third of three gang members charged with attacking and killing a 22-year-old Wheaton man in November 2013 has pleaded guilty to the crime.
Jonathan Jimenez, 20, of Aurora, pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree murder and will serve a 25-year sentence, followed by three years of parole and 10 years as a violent offender registrant.
Alejandro Martinez, 18, and Anthony Rios, 19, each have pleaded guilty to armed violence in the death of Thomas Tecuatl, who was found beaten and stabbed early on Nov. 17, 2013, along Route 59 in West Chicago.
Rios is serving 17 years and Martinez is serving 14 years.
Assistant State's Attorney Steve Knight, deputy chief of the office's special prosecutions unit, said the homeowner found Tecuatl's lifeless body when he went out to get his newspaper.
Knight said all four men attended a nearby party on Nov. 16, 2013, on the 500 block of East Pomeroy Street. Tecuatl was slain after he brandished a knife toward seven or eight rival gang members during a heated confrontation, Knight said.
The suspects then armed themselves with a pipe, a pickax and bricks and bottles from a garage after Tecuatl pulled out a knife.
Rios struck the victim in the head with a pipe, and Martinez chased him into the street wielding a pickax over his head.
Once outside, Tecuatl lost his balance, fell and dropped the knife.
Knight said Jimenez gave a written statement in which he admitted picking up the knife and stabbing Tecuatl in the torso several times.
Jimenez will serve the full 25 years of the sentence and receives credit for the 502 days he's been in DuPage County jail.