Carpentersville man not guilty in party stabbing

A 22-year-old Carpentersville man left the McHenry County jail a free man Wednesday afternoon after a jury found him not guilty of attempted murder in a stabbing at a birthday party last year.

Jonathan Soto also was acquitted of a reckless conduct charge stemming from the July 12 incident in which authorities said he plunged a 14-inch carving knife into the side of a man trying to break up a fight.

The verdict ended a two-day trial in which jurors heard from a victim who testified he was too drunk to remember what happened to him and an eyewitness who said he drank 10 beers in two hours before seeing the stabbing.

The jury also heard testimony that the carving knife believed used in the stabbing had traces of Soto's blood on it, but none from stabbing victim Chase Majszak.

"There's a lack of physical evidence and there's a lack of clear testimony," Soto's attorney, Senior Assistant Public Defender Christopher Harmon said in his closing argument.

The stabbing occurred in the early morning hours of July 12 as Soto, Majszak and 30 to 40 others were at a birthday party at a Crystal Lake home. Most were drunk or drinking, including Majszak, 20, of Crystal Lake.

He testified that he believed he was breaking up an altercation when someone stabbed him, but he could not remember how he was stabbed or who did it.