Judge to decide adult status in stabbing case

In two weeks, a judge will hear arguments on whether a 16-year-old Elgin boy should be tried as a juvenile or an adult on a charge of attempted murder.

At a Wednesday hearing in Cook County Juvenile Court, Judge Paul Stralka set up a schedule to hear arguments in the case of Angel Facio.

Assistant State's Attorney Kevin Frey wants Facio transferred to adult court or, failing that, he wants extended juvenile jurisdiction.

This ruling would keep Facio, if convicted, out of adult prison by giving him a final chance at rehabilitation. Under this 1998 law, juveniles who have committed serious crimes receive both juvenile detention and an adult prison sentence. If the juvenile does not commit a new offense by age 21, he does not have to serve the adult sentence.

Stralka will hear those arguments March 26. He could make a decision on the motions April 9, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the state's attorney's office.

Facio, an Elgin High School junior, was charged as a juvenile with attempted murder in the Jan. 18 stabbing of his former consumer science teacher, Carolyn Gilbert.

Elgin police say Facio threw a coat over Gilbert while she was alone in her classroom and began stabbing her with a steak knife he brought from home.

The 50-year-old Bloomingdale woman was rescued by a colleague and hospitalized for two days before losing vision in one eye.

Facio is being held at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago.

A resident of Elgin's east side, Facio also faces two unrelated sets of charges in Kane County.

He is accused of sexually assaulting an 8-year old Elgin girl in August and of trying to abduct a Larsen Middle School student in January.

Facio will return Friday to Kane County court to be arraigned on the sexual assault charges.