Jury finds Waukegan man guilty of attempted murder in 2018 attack

A Waukegan man accused of violently attacking a woman who rejected his romantic advances in 2018 was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated battery by a Lake County jury Thursday.

Varghese Philip, 51, faces up to 30 years in prison. A sentencing hearing has not been set yet.

Prosecutors said Philip approached the woman in the parking lot of an apartment complex at Sunset and Golf roads in Waukegan on the night of June 21, 2018. Officials said he stabbed her in the head with a knife and when she was on the ground he kicked and stomped her head as she lost consciousness. The attack left the woman in a temporary coma with traumatic brain injury that required months of rehabilitation and still affects her life today, prosecutors said.

"Without the victim's testimony, this offender would have gotten away with this awful attack," Assistant State's Attorney Lauren Kalcheim Rothenberg said. "She should be commended by all for her strength and bravery."