COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A South Side woman was raped by a stranger in 2015 as she walked through her neighborhood barefoot seeking help following a fight with her fiance, prosecutors said Friday.
Rico Walker, 19, is charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault after DNA evidence recently linked him to the July 2015 case.
Walker is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for trying to rape a 20-year-old woman at his girlfriend's house in 2016. During an August 2016 bond hearing, Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. denied Walker bail after Walker called the seasoned judge a "f---ing b---- a--."
Bourgeois had initially set bail at $5 million in the case — but changed his mind after Walker's outburst since the man "has no control."
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The pair met again Friday at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, 2650 S. California Ave., where Bourgeois once again denied Walker bail, saying: "Mr. Walker, you are one dangerous individual."
According to prosecutors, the 26-year-old victim in the 2015 rape case got into a heated argument with her fiance in West Pullman in the early morning hours of July 19, 2015.
The man broke the victim's phone, prosecutors said, and she quickly left the house barefoot to try to borrow a neighbor's phone to call 911.
Both a neighbor and several partygoers on the street refused to help the victim, Assistant State's Attorney Kristin Estrada said during a bond hearing Friday. The victim continued to walk down the street and soon noticed a man following her.
At that point, prosecutors said, the victim turned around and walked home.
She no longer saw the man, Estrada said, but was unable to enter her house in the 500 block of West 117th Street because she was not carrying her keys. The man — identified by authorities as Walker — soon approached the victim's porch and asked if she lived there, prosecutors said.
The victim grabbed a broom, swung it at Walker and demanded he leave, Estrada said. But Walker overpowered the woman and placed a hard object to the back of her head, according to prosecutors.
That's when Walker forced the victim into an alley and raped her, Estrada said.
When Walker left about 2:50 a.m., he took the victim's clothing with him, authorities said.
The then-naked woman once more tried to get her neighbor to help. According to prosecutors, the victim banged on the woman's door until she called 911. The woman refused to let the victim inside.
When police arrived roughly an hour later, Estrada said, they gave the woman a blanket and took her to a nearby hospital, where a rape kit was collected.
In March of this year, investigators were able to match DNA from the kit to Walker. He was arrested Wednesday. It is not clear why there was a delay in filing charges.
In the 2016 case, Walker was convicted of home invasion, robbery and attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault. Judge Michael B. McHale sentenced Walker to 10 years in prison.
