Waukegan man charged with stabbing girlfriend to death

A 52-year-old Waukegan man has been charged with first degree murder after police said he stabbed his girlfriend to death Monday.

Waukegan police were dispatched at around noon Monday to do a well-being check at an apartment on the 800 block of Grand Avenue. They found the door unlocked and when they entered they found the body of a woman who appeared to have been stabbed, according to a news release issued by Waukegan Police on Tuesday.

Police said they then began a search for Ivan Rodriguez, who lived in the apartment.

Around 10 p.m. Rodriguez was located at Union Station in Chicago by a Metra police officer. He was arrested and turned over to Waukegan police.

Bail was set at $2 million for Rodriguez who remains at Lake County jail. He will next be in court on December 20.

Tuesday morning, Lake County Coroner Dr. Howard Cooper conducted an autopsy on the victim, who is only being described by police as a 55-year-old Waukegan woman until her family can be notified of her death. Cooper said the woman died from sharp force trauma.

Investigators believe that Rodriguez and the victim were in a relationship and said the murder was domestically related. The victim did not live with Rodriguez at the Waukegan apartment.