Man gets 70 years for 2021 fatal stabbing of girlfriend in Villa Park

A former Villa Park man on Wednesday was sentenced to 70 years in prison for stabbing his girlfriend to death in 2021.

Marco-Antonio Rubio, 29, pleaded guilty earlier this year to murdering Esmeralda DeLuna, 24, his live-in girlfriend and mother of their three children.

On May 19, 2021, Villa Park police officers responded to a call for a disturbance in the 300 block of North Princeton Drive and heard crying from the residence. Once inside, officers found two girls, aged 3 and 6, and a 1-year-old boy, officials said.

A blood trail in the living room led them to the kitchen, where they found DeLuna with a butcher knife in her leg and stab wounds to her torso. DeLuna was taken to a hospital, where she died the following morning.

Authorities said an investigation showed that Rubio had been served an order of protection against him by DeLuna on May 7, requiring him to move out of their residence.

On the night of the murder, he broke into the house and stabbed DeLuna multiple times before fleeing the scene, authorities said.

He was taken into custody the next day while walking in Villa Park and has been held ever since at the DuPage County Jail.

Rubio was sentenced on Wednesday by Judge Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh after entering a blind plea of guilty to one count of first-degree murder on March 5. He will be required to serve 100% of his sentence before being eligible for parole.