Oct. 29 (UPI) — Two Chicago sisters are being held without bond on attempted murder charges after allegedly stabbing a store security guard 27 times when he asked them to wear masks.
Sisters Jayla Hill, 18, and Jessica Hill, 21, got involved in a verbal altercation Sunday with a 32-year-old security guard at the Stipes clothing store in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood, police said.
Prosecutors said that the guard asked the women to leave unless they were willing to wear masks and use hand sanitizer.
Jayla Hill started filming the guard with her phone and Jessica Hill “smashed” the guard in the face with a trash can, police said.
In an assault captured on store video cameras, Jessica then, allegedly, removed a comb knife with a “hidden blade” and began to stab the security guard in his back, neck and arms, while her sister grabbed his hair to hold him still.
The guard and a store manager begged the sisters to stop, but when the guard escaped the women began to kick him in the head and body, police said.
Even though injured, the guard was able to restrain the women in the store until police came, prosecutors said. The security guard was taken to a hospital, but did not need stitches, prosecutors said.
“It’s the complete randomness of this. It’s terrifying,” Judge Mary Marubio said in Cook County court, as she denied both women bond on Tuesday. “This is just too random and quickly escalating. I can’t fathom conditions that would protect the community,” she added.
A manager of a neighboring shop told the Chicago Sun-Times that she has called the police on customers who refuse to wear masks.
“I’m kind of wary because we often have to tell customers to wear their masks, and they get irate and don’t want to do it,” Rosalyn Frazier said. “We had a customer the other day that didn’t want to wear a mask and we needed to call the police. It’s crazy.”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced more restrictions, including the end of in-person restaurant dining and bar service starting on Saturday, as COVID-19 cases in the state began to surge.
Illinois health officials announced 6,110 new COVID-19 cases and 51 deaths Wednesday, the second-highest reported in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic.
The total number of cases in Illinois is now over 389,000, with 9,619 deaths, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health
The mayor said residents should follow health and safety protocols including wearing masks, social distancing and limiting family gatherings.
“If they’re not a family member or an immediate family member in your household, you should not be having dinner parties or weekend parties, card games, all the things that we know other people love and enjoy,” Lightfoot said.
