COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — The man accused of fatally stabbing Pilsen art figure Rodolfo "Rudy" Avina suffers from mental illness, court records show.
Prosecutors allege Ulises Almaraz, 29, slit Avina's throat inside Simone's Bar, 960 W. 18th St., about 12:30 a.m. Saturday.
Almaraz, who lives in west suburban Berwyn, has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and is also bipolar, according to court records. At a bond hearing Sunday, his attorney said Almaraz had stopped taking his medication prior to the weekend's unprovoked attack.
Almaraz's most recent brush-ups with the law include convictions for retail theft in 2014 and battery in 2013.
In the battery case, Almaraz was convicted of punching a man in the head, grabbing him by the neck and trying to throw him to the ground in September 2013, according to court records. Almaraz was convicted of resisting a peace officer in the same case. Prosecutors said Almaraz refused to put his hands behind his back and comply with police when they tried to arrest him.
In December 2013, as Almaraz awaited trial for the battery, his attorney requested an examination to determine whether Almaraz was sane during the September 2013 attack, and fit to stand trial.
Almaraz was evaluated by a psychiatrist and a psychologist, who both declared him "fit to stand trial," noting that Almaraz understood the charges against him and was capable of rationally assisting his attorney in his defense.
"Mr. Almaraz would have been legally sane at the time of the alleged offense," psychiatrist Nishad Nadkarni wrote in a letter dated February 19, 2014. "Although it appears that Mr. Almaraz was manifesting some symptoms of mania of Schizoaffective disorder, his alleged actions were more directly related to severe intoxication with alcohol. Mr. Almaraz was not manifesting mental disease or defect that would have substantially impaired his capacity to appreciate the criminality of the alleged act."
Nadkarni said Almaraz could stand trial so long as he took his medication.
Almaraz was convicted that same month and sentenced to conditional discharge and required to complete an alcohol and drug evaluation.
His only other criminal history includes a 2004 conviction for possessing a gun without a valid FOID card. Almaraz was sentenced to court supervision.
After Saturday's attack, Avina's friends and family set up a "Remembering Rudy" Facebook page, as well as a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for Avina's funeral and burial. The campaign said Avina didn't have a life insurance policy and any extra cash would go toward education for his three teenage children, one of whom is starting at DePaul University in the fall. The campaign had raised more than $16,000 as of Wednesday night.
Avina's wake will be held Friday from 3-8 p.m. at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., according to the Facebook page.
In October, Avina was among a group who created a mural on 18th Street in remembrance of war correspondent James "Jim" Foley, who also had lived in Pilsen. While reporting on the Syrian Civil War, Foley was abducted and eventually killed by ISIS members last August.
The mural covers a full wall at Pilsen Vintage and Thrift, 1430 W. 18th St.
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