Trial begins in Des Plaines stabbing death

Opening statements begin today in Skokie's Second Municipal District in the murder trial of Ashuri Hidou, 19, charged with first-degree murder in the 2008 stabbing death of 21-year-old Israel Moreno.

Prosecutors say Hidou, of the Bay Colony subdivision in Des Plaines, stabbed Moreno, also of Des Plaines, in the vicinity of Washington Street and Laurel Avenue in the early morning hours of June 14.

Police said the stabbing resulted from a long-standing feud between residents. At Hidou's bond hearing following the murder, prosecutors said the dispute was over a girl.

They say Moreno was outside a residence in the 400 block of Laurel Ave. at about 2:15 a.m. yelling for a woman inside. Getting no response, he walked away, but Hidou, armed with an 8-inch blade, overtook him. A struggle ensued and Moreno was stabbed, prosecutors said.

Hidou ran to a nearby apartment and called a relative who took him to Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital for treatment to injuries to his face, hand and arms, prosecutors said. According to police, Hidou told hospital personnel he was beaten. He later left the hospital and fled to Lincolnwood where he was apprehended the next day, police said.

If convicted, Hidou could face between 20 and 60 years in prison.