Man guilty of Aurora woman's 2007 murder

A Joliet man was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday for stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death in Aurora, just 10 days after she gave birth to their second child.

Hezekiah Hamilton, 26, was found guilty by Kane County Circuit Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon at the end of a four-day bench trial in St. Charles. He now faces 20 to 60 years in prison.

According to testimony, investigators found 25-year-old Brenetta Beck's blood on Hamilton's boots and socks, and inside his truck, after the Aurora woman's brutal killing Oct. 30, 2007.

Footprints at the scene also matched Hamilton's work boots, and cell phone records put him in the area of the killing at the time of Beck's murder.

Prosecutors said animosity over child support led to the "bloodbath" in which Beck was stabbed 54 times while at home with her children.

"Fifty-four stab wounds all over her body - over and over and over again," State's Attorney John Barsanti, who prosecuted the case, said in closing arguments. "This was anger. This was vehemence."

Public Defender Ron Haskell contended the prosecutions's case was based on a "mountain of suspicion and a molehill of scientific and physical evidence."

He noted there was no eyewitness, no confession, and no murder weapon ever found.

"It's a wonderful story, but it's not backed up by any physical evidence," Haskell said. "It may be her blood (on Hamilton's belongings) but you can't tell when it got there."

In delivering his verdict, Sheldon recounted the testimony of 25 witnesses, who detailed Hamilton's anger at Beck relating to child support matters, the blood evidence, and the opportunity Hamilton had to carry out the murder.

"The case turns mostly on the DNA, the blood on the defendant's boots," Sheldon said.

Hamilton's sentencing is scheduled for May 17.