COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Logan Square man was held on $2 million bail Wednesday after prosecutors said he fatally stabbed his neighbor during a night of drinking.
Ruben Quispe-Trujillo, 24, of the 1900 block of North Rockwell Street, is charged with first-degree murder. The Ecuador native was ordered on Wednesday by Cook County Judge James Brown to relinquish his passport.
Prosecutors allege Quispe-Trujillo spent Sunday night and early Monday drinking with upstairs neighbor Adrian Campos, 26. The pair was socializing in the front yard before Quispe-Trujillo's wife asked the men to move out back since they were making a lot of noise, Assistant State's Attorney Sarah Karr said during a bond hearing Wednesday.
Quispe-Trujillo's sister-in-law popped outside about 2:15 a.m. Monday and saw the two men drinking and talking, Karr said. The sister-in-law headed back in the house and went to sleep on a pull-out sofa in the living room.
She was awakened a short while later when the back door slammed, according to prosecutors. The woman saw Quispe-Trujillo leave the kitchen with a large knife, wave the blade toward Campos and stab him in the chest, Karr said.
Quispe-Trujillo's mother-in-law heard the commotion, rushed outside and tried to tackle Quispe-Trujillo, prosecutors said. Quispe-Trujillo eventually went back inside and placed the knife in the sink. His nephew called police, and Quispe-Trujillo fled.
Campos was able to stumble upstairs to his apartment, Karr said. Before he died, Campos allegedly told his father, mother and sister that Quispe-Trujillo had stabbed him.
Campos was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:11 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Police arrested Quispe-Trujillo a few blocks away in the 2600 block of West Armitage Avenue. On Wednesday, Cook County Judge James Brown ordered him held in lieu of $2 million bail.
Quispe-Trujillo's attorney said her client moved to the U.S. from Ecuador six years ago. He's married with two small children, ages 2 and 5 months.
According to Ian Martinez, who lives across the street from Campos' house, Quispe-Trujillo had been living in the same building as Campos for about four months.
"I was really shocked when I heard ... I had seen [Campos] sitting out on his stoop just the day before," Martinez said.
While he didn't know Campos well, next-door neighbor Casper Castro said the man was a common sight in the six months since he moved in.
"I saw him sitting out there a lot, sometimes with people, sometimes drinking, but never making a lot of noise or anything," said Castro, who's lived on the block for 20 years. "I was really surprised to hear this happened. ... There was a lot of gangbanging around the block like 10 years ago, but since then it's been pretty quiet."
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
