Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez | Homicide Watch Chicago

Man gets 33 years for decapitating Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez after being kicked out of apartment

Jeff Mayes — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 15:25:47 -0600

By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times

Alexis Valdez | Chicago Police

A man who decapitated his aunt’s boyfriend, Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez, after being told to move out of her Northwest Side apartment has been sentenced to 33 years in prison.

Alexis Valdez, 21, pleaded guilty to murder in the 2013 Christmas attack in the 2500 block of North Kildare Avenue before Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan, according to court records. Valdez was sentenced Friday.

Valdez moved in with his aunt and Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez on the condition Valdez go to school, work and contribute to household expenses, prosecutors said at the time of his arrest. Valdez later stopped working and was asked to move out.

That angered Valdez and he lashed out by attacking Diaz-Hernandez with a hammer, eventually decapitating and dismembering the body.

Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez | Facebook

Valdez called 911 afterward to report a dead body. He was covered in blood and admitted to the killing when police arrived on the scene, prosecutors said.

“My father was a good person, he never did anything to anyone,” the victim’s 17-year-old daughter, Salena Diaz, told the Sun-Times via email at the time.

“He was a good father. He did what he could for me and my brother. He did the best to provide for us after me and [my] brother lost our mother.”

Alexis Valdez pleads not guilty to killing, decapitating aunt’s boyfriend on Northwest Side

Michael Lansu — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 18:18:37 -0600

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.

Comment of the Day: "He was a very loving dad, and cared so much about his kids"

Michael Lansu — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 16:30:28 -0600

Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez was killed in a December attack on the Northwest Side that left him decapitated. Reader "Mike" shared this about him:

He was a very loving dad, and cared so much about his kids. His oldest kid is 18 years old, and that's pretty much the only family he has from Chicago. His 18 year old son, just wants to repay his father for being there for him, with a nice funeral. ... The family is gathering money for the father can be remembered for the loving father he was.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Nine murdered in attacks throughout the city

Michael Lansu — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 08:55:13 -0600

BY MICHAEL LANSU
Homicide Watch Chicago Editor

Eight people were shot to death and one man was beaten and dismembered in murders throughout the city last week.

Charges have been filed in three of the four killings.

On Saturday, 23-year-old Craig Williams was shot to death while walking in the 4500 block of South Indiana Avenue about 4:10 a.m., authorities said.

Two males exited a sedan and shot Williams several times, authorities said. Williams, who lived on the block, ran to a nearby vacant lot, where he collapsed and died.

On Friday, police found 31-year-old Jernale Richardson was shot in the 5900 block of West Midway Park about 3:50 a.m., authorities said. Richardson, of the 5100 block of West Ohio Street, was shot in the chest and head and was dead on the scene.

Shaughnessy Simms Jr. was charged with first-degree murder in Richardson's death.

On Thursday, 50-year-old Elijah Johnson was killed during a home invasion in the 1600 block of South Central Park Avenue about 8:15 p.m., authorities said.

Johnson answered the door and got into a fight when two men tried to force their way inside to see a girl, authorities said. One of the men shot Johnson in the chest and the pair ran away.

Johnson, of the 400 block of Stonewater Lane in Oswego, died at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

On the West Side, Dennis Glover was shot to death while walking with his girlfriend on a sidewalk near his home in the 700 block of South Kilbourn Avenue, authorities said.

Two people approached the couple and shot Glover in the chest about 8:15 p.m. Thursday, authorities said. The shooters fled in an SUV.

Glover was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:46 p.m. Thursday, according to the medical examiner’s office. His girlfriend was not injured, police said.

On Wednesday, Alexis Valdez">Alexis Valdez attacked 41-year-old Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez in an apartment in the 2500 block of North Kildare Avenue about 2 a.m., prosecutors said.

Valdez, 18, of the 5000 block of West Drummond Place, was charged with one count of first-degree murder for allegedly beating Diaz-Hernandez to death with a hammer then dismembering his body, authorities said.

Prosecutors claim Valdez lived in the home with his aunt, who asked him to move out. An angry Valdez attacked his aunt's boyfriend, Diaz-Hernandez, to get even, prosecutors said.

On the South Side, Eric Hunt was shot and killed in the 1200 block of West 73rd Place about 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, authorities said. Hunt, of the 4300 block of South Calumet Avenue, died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County about 8:30 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

On Monday, 22-year-old Alexander Rodriguez was shot in the chest, leg and abdomen area in the 2300 block of North Ridgeway Avenue about 7:40 p.m., authorities said.

Rodriguez died at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center at 8:32 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

In the West Pullman neighborhood, 19-year-old Natasha Green and a 23-year-old man were shot in the 11700 block of South Eggleston Avenue about 12:35 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

Green, of the 11700 block of South Normal Avenue, was shot in the head died at Roseland Community Hospital less than an hour later, authorities said.

The 23-year-old man was shot in the leg and survived, police said.

In the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, 23-year-old Christopher Lang was walking in the 3400 block of West 72nd Place about midnight Monday he was shot in the abdomen area, authorities said.

Lang, of the 3500 block of West 72nd Place, died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn at 3:22 a.m. Monday, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Daquon E. Renfro, 19, and Antonio Cox, 20, were each charged with murder in Lang's death, authorities said. The men approached Lang and asked to buy marijuana then shot him during an attempted robbery, prosecutors said.

Family: Man decapitated by girlfriend's relative 'will be truly missed'

Michael Lansu — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 21:07:38 -0600

Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez / Family Photo

BY MICHAEL LANSU AND STEFANO ESPOSITO
Sun-Times Media

Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez was the only parent to two biological children and four stepdaughters after their mother died of lupus more than a year ago, family members said.

“We lost our mother [in] November 2012 to lupus and he was there every step of the way,” stepdaughter Melissa Edwards said via email. “Now that he was taken from us, all six of us kids are left with no parent figures in our lives. He will be truly missed.”

Diaz-Hernandez was killed early Christmas morning when his girlfriend’s nephew beat him to death -- then cut off his head -- after she told him to move out of her Northwest Side apartment, prosecutors said.

“My father was a good person, he never did anything to anyone,” his 17-year-old daughter, Salena Diaz, said via email. “He was a good father. He did what he could for me and my brother. He did the best to provide for us after me and [my] brother lost our mother.

“He was a fun and loving person. He loved joking around with us.”

Diaz-Hernandez' family said he moved to Chicago from Mexico when he was 17 or 18 years old. He met his wife in Chicago, but after a divorce moved back and forth between Chicago and Atlanta.

He loved to watch moves, eat take-out food, play soccer and have family barbeques, family members said.

"He was big boned, but had a soft heart," his son, 18-year-old Silvestre Abel Diaz said. He described his father with the saying, "Dad: A son's first hero, a daughters first love."

Early Christmas morning, Alexis Valdez killed attacked Diaz-Hernandez in an apartment in the 2500 block of North Kildare Avenue, prosecutors said.

Assistant State’s Attorney Kingsley Sawyers said Valdez moved in with his aunt and Hernandez-Diaz about six months ago. Valdez was allowed to move into the apartment on the condition that he go to school, work and contribute to household expenses, Sawyers said.

But eventually, Valdez stopped working and he was asked to move out, Sawyers said.

While the aunt was attending a party, Valdez started drinking and became angry at being forced to move out, Sawyers said. At some point, Diaz came home to the apartment and went with Valdez to a store to buy more beer.

“Before leaving to go to the store, the defendant took a hammer from the porch and hid it by the door so that he could kill the victim after they returned home,” Sawyers said.

When Valdez and Diaz-Hernandez returned, Valdez unleashed his fury, smashing Diaz in the head multiple times with the hammer, prosecutors alleged. Diaz fell to the floor, Sawyers said.

"On Christmas Eve, me and a few more family members got the last call we will ever receive from him," his son said via email. "He called me at 4:05 a.m. and left me a voice mail. Hearing that voice mail makes me want to hug him really bad. He always told us he loved us. He would say it a million times."

When Diaz was dead, Valdez dismembered the body, eventually cutting off Diaz’s head, Sawyers said.

Alexis Valdez / Photo from Chicago Police

“All he wanted was to be with me and my brother. He didn't deserve this at all,” his daughter said.

Valdez eventually became exhausted, Sawyers said. He called 911 to report a dead body. When the 911 operator asked Valdez if he’d tried CPR, “the defendant laughed and told the 911 operator that the victim had been decapitated,” Sawyers said.

When police arrived, Valdez was covered in blood and admitted to killing Diaz, Sawyers said.

“The defendant also admitted that he was angry with his aunt and the victim, and that if his aunt had come home and seen the victim’s body, then he would have killed her as well,” Sawyers said.

UPDATE: Teen allegedly decapitated aunt’s boyfriend after he was asked to move out

Michael Lansu — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 14:13:03 -0600

Alexis Valdez / Photo from Chicago Police

BY STEFANO ESPOSITO
Homicide Watch Chicago

When Alexis Valdez’s aunt told her do-nothing nephew that she wanted him out of her Northwest Side apartment, he decided to leave her a Christmas Eve “present.”

The gift Valdez left on his aunt’s bed, Cook County prosecutors alleged in court Friday, was the severed head of her boyfriend, Silvestri Diaz.

After prosecutors outlined one of the more gruesome crimes in recent memory at the George Leighton Criminal Courthouse, Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas ordered Valdez — a slight 18-year-old with no known criminal history — held without bond.

In court, Assistant State’s Attorney Kingsley Sawyers said Valdez moved in with his aunt and Diaz about six months ago. Valdez was allowed to move into the apartment in the 2500 block of North Kildare Avenue on the condition that he go to school, work and contribute to household expenses, Sawyers said. But eventually, Valdez stopped working and he was asked to move out.

On Christmas Eve, while the aunt was attending a party, Valdez started drinking and became angry at being forced to move out. At some point, Diaz came home to the apartment and went with Valdez to a store to buy more beer.

“Before leaving to go to the store, the defendant took a hammer from the porch and hid it by the door so that he could kill the victim after they returned home,” Sawyers said.

When Valdez and Diaz returned, Valdez unleashed his fury, smashing Diaz in the head multiple times with the hammer, prosecutors alleged. Diaz fell to the floor. When Diaz was dead, Valdez dismembered the body, eventually cutting off Diaz’s head, Sawyers said.

When police arrived, Valdez was covered in blood and admitted to killing Diaz, Sawyers said.

“The defendant also admitted that he was angry with his aunt and the victim, and that if his aunt had come home and seen the victim’s body, then he would have killed her as well,” Sawyers said.

Alexis Valdez charged with murdering decapitated man found in Hermosa basement

Michael Lansu — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 15:09:56 -0600

Alexis Valdez / Photo from Chicago Police

Alexis Valdez was charged with murder Thursday after police found a decapitated man in a Hermosa neighborhood home early Christmas morning.

Officers responding to a homicide call found the body of Silvestre Diaz-Hernandez, 41, about 2 a.m. Wednesday in his basement apartment in the 2500 block of North Kildare Avenue, officials said.

Alexis Valdez, of the 5000 block of West Drummond Place, was charged with one count of first-degree murder. He’s accused of dismembering Diaz-Hernandez, police said.

Valdez was standing outside the building and taken into custody, officials said. A knife was found at the scene, police said.

Diaz-Hernandez suffered multiple blunt and sharp force injuries and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Valdez is expected to appear for a bond hearing Friday.

-- Sun-Times Media Wire