Elgin man found guilty of Crystal Lake stabbing
A 31-year-old Elgin man has pleaded guilty to breaking into his ex-girlfriend's Crystal Lake townhouse in July 2013 and stabbing her and her boyfriend, according to court records.
Jimmy J. Bell Jr. faces up to 60 years in prison when sentenced for armed violence and attempted murder.
Bell was caught six days after the attack at his cousin's house in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Bell was accused of breaking into a townhouse on the 1500 block of Isle Royal Circle at about 4:15 a.m. July 2, 2013, and repeatedly stabbing his 28-year-old ex-girlfriend and her 23-year-old boyfriend.
Crystal Lake police described it as an act of domestic violence, not a random attack, and said Bell and the woman broke up in fall 2012.
Both victims were initially in critical condition and survived their wounds.
In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed other, less serious charges of residential burglary.
McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather will issue Bell's sentence July 24.
Bell entered a "cold" or "blind" plea Monday in which the defendant does not agree on a sentence with prosecutors beforehand and leaves it up to a judge.
Bell served 38 days in jail and was sentenced to 24 months probation after pleading guilty to aggravated battery causing great bodily harm from a September 2001 incident in Elgin, according to Kane County court records. Bell also was ordered to pay $2,000 in fines and court costs and issued 35 days of electronic home monitoring as a result of the felony conviction, records show.