COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Back of the Yards man fatally stabbed his sleeping roommate after an evening of drinking, prosecutors said Thursday.
Miguel Garcia, 43, is accused of slicing his roommate's femoral artery before calling a witness to say "the victim wasn't doing too well," Assistant State's Attorney Matthew Howroyd said during a bond hearing Thursday.
Garcia and roommate Matusalem Dominguez-Gutierrez, 30, spent Monday evening drinking together inside their apartment in the 1700 block of West 51st Street, prosecutors said.
Over the course of the evening, the men argued, and Garcia made several threats to Dominguez-Gutierrez, Howroyd said. It's not clear why the men argued.
After Dominguez-Gutierrez went to sleep, prosecutors said, Garcia walked up to the man about 1 a.m. Tuesday and plunged a knife into his leg.
Garcia then called the witness, who went to Garcia's home and found Dominguez-Gutierrez bleeding and unresponsive in the building's vestibule, prosecutors said.
Dominguez-Gutierrez was pronounced dead on the scene at 1:37 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
The witness stayed with Dominguez-Gutierrez and called 911, according to Howroyd. When the witness tried to call Garcia, Garcia didn't answer, Howroyd added.
Police on the scene found a blood trail leading from the vestibule to Garcia's apartment, prosecutors said. There, officers noticed that blood on the floor had been recently mopped, and a faucet was still running.
Shortly before 4 a.m. Tuesday, Garcia called the witness, who was still with police, and confessed to stabbing Dominguez-Gutierrez following an argument, prosecutors said. Garcia was arrested outside his home, according to a police report.
Garcia is charged with first-degree murder.
Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. on Thursday set bail at $1 million.
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