DuPage County judge denies Elgin woman's attempt to withdraw guilty plea in attempted murder
A former Elgin woman sentenced to 28 years in prison last month after pleading guilty to attempted murder and aggravated arson will not be allowed to withdraw her plea.
According to a motion filed Tuesday by Senior Assistant Public Defender Kyle Rubeck, Chavez Odio was suffering from anxiety and duress when she entered the plea on Jan. 17. Rubeck also said Odio did not understand DuPage County Judge George Bakalis' admonishments at the time of plea.
Assistant State's Attorney Alyssa Rabulinski referred to transcripts of the hearing Wednesday while arguing before Bakalis. The transcripts, she said, show that Odio specifically told the judge she understood his instructions, that she made the plea voluntarily and that she was not under the influence of anything that would alter her sound state of mind.
"The defendant clearly understood she was waiving her rights," Bakalis ruled. "There's a reason why we do these admonishments. The motion to withdraw the plea of guilty is denied."
With her guilty plea, Odio admitted to stabbing and trying to suffocate a woman who was sleeping on her ex-boyfriend's couch and then setting his Roselle townhouse on fire in July 2017.
Prosecutors said Odio went to her ex-boyfriend's home on the 600 block of Circle Drive about 2 a.m. on July 25, 2017, and began removing items from the townhouse. The ex-boyfriend was not home at the time, but a woman who was visiting and sleeping on the couch saw Odio and confronted her.
Odio stabbed the 20-year-old woman six or seven times with a sharp object and tried to suffocate her with a plastic bag. The woman managed to run away and lock herself in an upstairs bedroom, where she began to smell gasoline and smoke.
A man who was sleeping upstairs also smelled gas and smoke, and the two jumped out a second-floor window to escape. The woman dislocated her shoulder in the fall, while the man suffered minor injuries.
Prosecutors believe Odio set fire to the townhouse and then fled by stealing a silver sedan that was parked outside, knocking over a motorcycle in the process.
Court records show Odio previously was charged with domestic battery against her ex-boyfriend on April 7, 2017, when, authorities said, she forced her way into his townhouse and scratched his arm, causing a small abrasion.
She has been held on $2 million bail since her July 2017 arrest. She must now serve 85 percent of the sentence before being eligible for parole.