By RUMMANA HUSSAIN and JACOB WITTICH
Chicago Sun-Times
Raymond Boyle (left) and Dalton Stropes | Cook County Sheriff’s Dept.
Two men pleaded guilty Monday and were sentenced to eight years in prison for their roles in a 2015 stabbing that left 20-year-old Angelica Escamilla dead after a brawl in Lincoln Square.
Raymond Boyle, 23, and Dalton Stropes, 22, both pleaded guilty second degree murder for the June 29, 2015, fatal stabbing, according to Cook County court records. They were initially charged with murder, mob action, and aggravated battery with a weapon, all felonies, but accepted a plea deal with the 8-year sentences.
Boyle allegedly enlisted his friends, Stropes and Escamilla, to help lure a 19-year-old man he feuded with over Facebook into an alley in the 2100 block of West Windsor Avenue in Lincoln Square so they could beat him, according to prosecutors.
Boyle allegedly approached their target in the street, and Escamilla and Stropes emerged once they ended up in the alley, prosecutors said during a previous court hearing.
The man who was cornered took out a 2-inch pocketknife to scare them but put it away, prosecutors said. Escamilla then punched the man, and Boyle and Stropes followed.
The man who was being attacked backed into a pole, removed the knife from his boot and stabbed Escamilla in the chest, Quinn said. He also stabbed Boyle and Stropes before escaping and calling 911.
A neighbor saw some of the fight as she pulled into her garage and saw two people run past her home, Quinn said. She also saw Escamilla lying on the ground bleeding, and stayed with her until police arrived.
Boyle eventually returned to the alley with his fiancée, who had stopped at a nearby library to use the restroom during the brawl, prosecutors said. She apparently heard her friends discussing the attack before she went into the library, and saw Boyle running with blood on his face when she came out.
Boyle tried to explain what happened, but then ran away before police arrived, leaving the neighbor and his fiancée applying pressure to Escamilla’s wound.
The man who had been beaten was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston for treatment, authorities said. He suffered contusions to the head and ribs, a sprained knee, bruised neck, bite mark to his back, and chipped front tooth.
Boyle had cuts to his face and refused treatment at Swedish Covenant Hospital. Stropes suffered multiple stab wounds to his right bicep, left nipple and upper back, authorities said. He was treated at Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
Boyle and Stropes were charged with Escamilla’s murder because she was killed while they were committing felonies — aggravated battery and mob action, authorities said.
They accepted a plea deal on Monday in front of Cook County Judge Carole Howard, according to court records. They were each sentenced to eight years and credited more than two years they served in the Cook County Jail awaiting trial.
Stropes also pleaded guilty to attacking a correctional officer, according to court records. He was sentenced to an additional year and a half in prison.