Prosecutors: Streamwood man tried to kill estranged wife with hammer

A Streamwood man accused of attacking his estranged wife with a hammer was ordered held without bail Wednesday.

Ebeid Alsharifi was charged with attempted first-degree murder, which is punishable by a minimum of six and a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Caitlin Casey said Alsharifi told his wife he had something for their kids and arranged to meet her at a store on Feb. 2. After she arrived, he told her he just wanted to talk with her and she left, Casey said.

Alsharifi subsequently sent her texts and emails in which he stated he wanted to kill himself, Casey said, adding that he also sent a photograph of himself with a mouthful of pills.

The woman alerted police, who found Alsharifi unconscious at an extended stay motel and took him to Amita Health Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village.

On Feb. 3, Casey said, the wife awoke to find Alsharifi standing beside her bed holding a hammer, which he used to strike her face and other parts of her body. The woman rolled to the floor and screamed for him to stop, but he continued to strike and kick her, Casey said, adding that the couple's children were home at the time.

One of the children called 911 and reported that “her father was trying to kill her mother,” Casey said, adding that the woman's screams could be heard in the background of the call.

Alsharifi slapped the phone out of the child's hand, Casey said, and his wife ran from her home to a neighbor, where she called 911.

The woman was taken to Amita Health St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates, where authorities say she is being treated for severe bruising, cuts that required stitches and trauma to her spleen and liver.

Alsharifi, who has no criminal background, next appears in court on March 1.