Man Stabs Victim 45 Times Before Lighting Him on Fire, Prosecutors Say

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A South Shore man stabbed a 51-year-old man more than 45 times before lighting the victim on fire, prosecutors said Friday.

Donald Arrington, 31, is charged with first-degree murder.

"You're dangerous," Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. told Arrington during a bond hearing Friday. "The heinous nature of these allegations leaves me no choice. No bail."

According to authorities, Arrington met Lloyd White, 51, for dinner at a Golden Nugget on Irving Park Road on Aug. 28. The pair parted ways, but met again the following night inside White's apartment in the 3900 block of North Spaulding Avenue.

There, Arrington and White smoked marijuana, used cocaine and drank alcohol before having sex, Assistant State's Attorney Karisa Flores said in court Friday.

After the sexual encounter, Arrington repeatedly beat White with a statue, causing the statue to break into several pieces, prosecutors said. Arrington then stabbed White more than 45 times, killing him.

Prosecutors offered no motive for the murder. It's not clear whether Arrington and White knew one another before the Golden Nugget encounter.

Once White was dead, Arrington met with an accomplice, who has yet to be charged, and the pair pilfered White's apartment — stealing a laptop, credit cards and several other items, Flores said.

Arrington and the accomplice tried to light White's body to destroy any evidence, according to prosecutors, and then drove off in White's Mercedes-Benz. The car was ultimately discarded in suburban Lincolnwood.

White's body was discovered on Aug. 31, 2015, two days after he was killed. Flores said a friend went to check on White when White failed to respond to numerous phone calls and text messages.

White's body was naked and bloody, and there were signs of a struggle in his apartment, prosecutors said. Evidence technicians collected blood, fingerprint and fluid samples from the scene.

Arrington, of the 6900 block of South Dorchester Avenue, was arrested Wednesday. According to Flores, he admitted to brutally murdering White in August and trying to cover up the crime by lighting a fire.

Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. on Friday ordered Arrington held without bail.

Contributing: Evan F. Moore

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