COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Prosecutors have charged an Albany Park man with fatally stabbing a teenage relative during an argument.
Abdullah Aljohani, 27, ran out the back door of his apartment early Sunday when police came to investigate a neighbor's 911 call, Assistant State's Attorney Akash Vyas said during a bond hearing Thursday.
It took police two days to catch up with Aljohani, who was arrested after a brief chase and charged with first-degree murder.
The neighbor had heard Aljohani fighting with Talal Aljohani, 19, about 4 a.m. Sunday. According to Vyas, the two were related, lived together and were "often referred to as brothers."
Following what sounded like a struggle, the neighbor heard Abdullah Aljohani yell at Talal Aljohani to wake up, prosecutors said.
When the neighbor tried several times to enter the apartment, Abdullah Aljohani alternately told him that Talal Aljohani was taking a shower, on the phone with family or sleeping in another room, Vyas said. The neighbor called 911.
When police knocked on his door in the 5000 block of North Harding Avenue, Abdullah Aljohani opened it slightly, told the officers everything was OK and closed it again, prosecutors said.
Police knocked on the door for several minutes before heading to the back of the building, where they found a back gate, garage door and several apartment-building doors wide open, according to Vyas.
Inside the apartment, Talal Aljohani was laying dead on a mattress with blood on his hands and a stab wound to his abdomen, prosecutors said. Police found blood in a bedroom and bathroom.
Talal Aljohani was pronounced dead at 4:49 a.m. Sunday. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office ruled his case a homicide.
Police arrested Abdullah Aljohani two days later when he was spotted near a Walgreens at 4010 W. Lawrence Ave. He took off running when he saw cops, and was caught a block away — still wearing Sunday's bloody clothing, according to Vyas.
Abdullah Aljohani was walking with his fiancee's brother when police found him, Vyas said. Police searched the brother's house and found Talal Aljohani's phone, wallet and ID, plus several additional cell phones. The brother told police Abdullah Aljohani admitted to cutting the victim with a knife.
Abdullah Aljohani was charged with first-degree murder.
Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas on Thursday ordered him held without bail.
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