Alberto Gaytan / Photo from Chicago Police
BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor
Alberto Gaytan stabbed his ex-girlfriend 11 times — nearly decapitating her — Thanksgiving morning outside her Northwest Side home, prosecutors said.
Gaytan, 42, is accused of attacking Maria Gonzalez about 5 a.m. Nov. 28 in the 4800 block of North Moody Avenue, authorities said.
Gonzalez and Gaytan previously dated, and the two had a 4-year-old child, according to court documents. About two months ago, she moved out of their home and into a basement apartment on Moody Avenue, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Maura White said.
Gaytan threatened to kill her if she left him for another man, and she did not tell him her new address, White said.
The morning of the attack, Gaytan approached Gonzalez outside her new home as she left for work, authorities said. He grabbed her as she was about to get in her car and threw her to the ground, White said.
Gaytan stabbed her “approximately 11 times about the face and body, including a deep laceration across the neck that was deep enough to almost decapitate the victim,” White said.
Police found Gonzalez in the street and she was declared dead on the scene, authorities said. An autopsy confirmed she died of multiple stab and incised wounds, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Witnesses heard Gonzalez scream and saw a man matching Gaytan’s description take her purse and flee in a red Chevrolet Cavalier, according to court documents.
Gaytan’s red Cavalier had the woman’s blood on the steering wheel, door and window, White said. Police later arrested Gaytan at his home.
He told officers he did not know where his ex-girlfriend lived, but was found to be in possession of a card with her new address written on the back, White said.
Gaytan entered the country illegally and was turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on an active illegal re-entry, White said. Gaytan was previously deported in 2008.
When DNA taken from the blood in the car matched that of Gonzalez an arrest warrant for the murder was issued, according to court documents.
Gaytan, 42, of the 3000 block of West Ainslie Street, was taken into custody Dec. 11 and charged with first-degree murder, authorities said.
He appeared before Judge Israel Desierto in a black sweatshirt and blue jeans. He was ordered held without bond and given a next court date of Jan. 2.
Gaytan has lived in Chicago for 25 years and has worked at Al’s Beef the past seven years, his public defender said. He has only attended grammar school and lives here with his family.