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Woman Killed in Lincoln Square Was Fight Instigator, Prosecutors Say

By Erica Demarest | July 2, 2015 11:05am | Updated on July 2, 2015 6:11pm
 Raymond Boyle (shown here) and Dalton Stropes, the woman's alleged accomplices, were charged with her murder.
Raymond Boyle (shown here) and Dalton Stropes, the woman's alleged accomplices, were charged with her murder.
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Chicago Police

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — The woman killed in Lincoln Square on Monday afternoon was actually one of three people attacking a 19-year-old man over a Facebook feud, prosecutors said.

The 19-year-old man was lured into an alley, where he fatally stabbed Angelica Escamilla, 20, after she got in his face, punched him repeatedly and told him she was going to "beat his a--," Assistant State's Attorney Barry Quinn said during a bond hearing Thursday.

Police said the 19-year-old, who also slashed his two other attackers, was acting in self-defense. He was not charged.

But the two other attackers — Raymond Boyle, 21, and Dalton Stropes, 20 — were charged with Escamilla's murder. Illinois state law says anyone involved in committing a felony that results in a murder can be charged with that murder, regardless of who pulls a trigger or plunges a knife.

Boyle, of the 1500 block of North Pulaski Road, and Stropes, of the 2000 block of West Arthur Avenue, were also charged with felony mob action and felony aggravated battery.

Prosecutors said Escamilla, Boyle and Stropes lured the 19-year-old victim to an alley in the 2100 block of West Sunnyside Avenue about 3:30 p.m. Monday and tried to start a fight.

Boyle had been feuding with the man on Facebook, Quinn said. The trio surrounded the man, who pulled a knife with a two-inch blade to scare them off. He eventually tucked the knife back in his boot, and Escamilla allegedly punched him in the face. Boyle and Stropes began beating the man, backing him into a pole, Quinn said.

At that point, the man pulled his knife and stabbed Escamilla, who'd been standing directly in front of him, Quinn said. The man continued to wave around his knife, allegedly slashing Boyle and Stropes.

The victim was able to run away, prosecutors said. He called 911 and was taken by paramedics to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he was treated for contusions to his head and ribs, a sprained knee, a bruised neck, a bite mark to his back and a chipped front tooth.

Boyle sustained several lacerations to his face, while Stropes was stabbed in his right bicep, left nipple and upper left back. On Thursday, a Chicago Police officer testified that Stropes couldn't appear in court because he was in Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center with a punctured lung.

Escamilla died on her way to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

While it's unclear exactly what the Facebook feud was about, a photo on what appears to be Boyle's Facebook page includes a disparaging comment, to which Boyle replied, "f--- off my post hater."

Mauricio Pena says neighbors were shocked by the stabbing:

A woman who lives off the alley saw four people in the alley that afternoon — one of them with a knife, Quinn said. The neighbor saw the 19-year-old man put the knife back in his boot as she pulled into her garage, Quinn added.

Moments later, the woman heard a struggle and saw two people run past her garage, according to prosecutors. When she stepped out, she spotted Escamilla lying bloody in the alley, prosecutors said. The woman waited with Escamilla until an ambulance arrived.

Boyle returned to the scene with his fiancee a short while later, Quinn said. The fiancee had been with Boyle, Stropes and Escamilla while they planned to attack the 19-year-old, but parted ways before the actual fight because the fiancee wanted to use the restroom at nearby Sulzer Regional Library, 4455 N. Lincoln Ave., according to prosecutors.

As the fiancee left the library, she saw Boyle running across Sunnyside with blood on his face, Quinn said. He added that the fiancee ultimately decided to stay with Escamilla until paramedics arrived, and Boyle fled the scene once more.

Once he was arrested, Boyle allegedly told police he punched the 19-year-old man and conspired to lure him into the alley. Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. on Thursday ordered Boyle held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Stropes, meanwhile, was held without bail. He's currently on supervision for criminal trespass. In March 2014, he was sentenced to four years special probation for aggravated battery to a person over 60 in Peoria County. Stropes also has a juvenile record for aggravated battery.

Contributing: Kelly Bauer

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