Schaumburg man pleads not guilty to fatally beating father with hammer

A 28-year-old man who authorities say fatally beat his father with a sledgehammer last month in the family’s Schaumburg home pleaded not guilty to a murder charge Tuesday in a Cook County courtroom.

Abhijit Patel, who prosecutors say had a history of threatening his father, is charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 29 killing of 67-year-old Anupam Patel.

The elder Patel had an active order of protection against his son at the time of his death, authorities say. Entered on Jan. 3, 2025, the two-year protective order prohibited his son from physically abusing, harassing, stalking or having any unlawful contact with him.

Anupam Patel suffered at least two blows to his head, which fractured his skull and broke his nose, authorities say. He was pronounced dead at his home.

Authorities say police were called to the family’s home the morning of Nov. 29 after Anupam Patel’s wife discovered him unresponsive and bleeding.

The elder Patel was a diabetic whose glucose monitor was connected to his wife’s cellphone, enabling her to monitor his blood sugar while she was at work, according to a Cook County prosecutor’s account.

Patel typically called his wife, Abhijit Patel’s mother, at 8 a.m. daily to inform her of his blood sugar level. When she did not hear from him and was unable to reach him by phone, she went home and discovered his body, authorities said.

Abhijit Pate is scheduled to return to court Jan. 7 at the county courthouse in Rolling Meadows. If convicted of first-degree murder, he faces a sentence of 20 to 60 years in prison.