Alexis Valdez / Photo from Chicago Police
BY LEEANN SHELTON
Sun-Times Media
An 18-year-old man accused of decapitating his aunt’s boyfriend after being told to move out of her house pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge Tuesday.
Alexis Valdez is accused of attacking and killing Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez early Christmas morning in an apartment where the three lived in the 2500 block of North Kildare Avenue, authorities said.
During a December bond hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Kingsley Sawyers said Valdez moved in with his aunt and Hernandez-Diaz on the condition he go to school, work and contribute to household expenses.
Eventually, Valdez stopped working and was asked to move out, Sawyers said.
Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez / Family Photo
Prosecutors claim he started drinking, got angry and attacked Diaz-Hernandez with a hammer — eventually decapitating and dismembering the body.
Valdez was arrested after calling 911 to report a dead body. When police arrived, he was covered in blood and admitted to the killing, Sawyers said.
Valdez pleaded not guilty before Judge Mauricio Araujo during a Tuesday hearing and will next appear in court March 12, according to Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokesman Stephen Campbell.