Antioch Township man guilty of killing girlfriend during 2012 fight
A judge has found an Antioch Township man guilty of killing his girlfriend during a fight after a day of drinking in 2012.
Michael Shane Axtell, 43, faces up to 60 years in prison for killing Tammy Stone in the bedroom of the home they shared in the 26000 block of West Bond Avenue. Sentencing is scheduled for March 3.
It's unknown if Axtell will appeal Friday's verdict from Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti.
Authorities said Stone and Axtell were in a relationship and had children together, but split up after Axtell moved to Colorado for work more than a decade ago. They rekindled their relationship and had been living together periodically since he returned to Antioch Township in spring 2011, authorities said.
On Oct. 4, Axtell and Stone got into a physical fight after returning home from an afternoon and evening of drinking at various bars near Antioch, authorities said. Stone phoned their daughter, Meghan, for help after she was knocked unconscious and revived from the first fight with Axtell, authorities said.
Meghan Stone arrived at the home with two friends shortly after receiving the phone call and confronted Axtell, authorities said. She testified she got into a verbal argument with Axtell, but was pulled out of the house by her friends after that confrontation turned physical.
She was in the garage cooling off when she heard a "loud thud" from inside the house - the noise "sounded like a bowling ball being dropped on a hardwood floor," she testified. She said she ran inside and found Stone unconscious on the bedroom floor.
One of the friends called police, authorities said, and Axtell walked out of the house.
He was arrested by Lake County Sheriff's deputies about 90 minutes later, authorities said. After being questioned by police, he was charged with three counts of murder.
Prosecutors dropped one murder charge before testimony began Tuesday. Axtell rejected a plea deal before the trial started.
"(The Lake County State's Attorney's Office) is delighted with the verdict, and we are delighted the family of the victim is now able to receive closure," Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim said Friday.