SELF-DEFENSE CLAIM NOT CONTRADICTED DURING INVESTIGATION FINDINGS
Closed investigation/no charges in case of man stabbed in Wheeling, who died two weeks after stabbing injury to the head that was ruled by investigators as a self-defense action.
A 24-year-old Wheeling man, who was stabbed in the head about 2:30 a.m. Sunday April 22, 2018 in the block of 500 East Merle Lane, died Sunday, May 6, 2018 at Level I Trauma Center Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. Rafeel Zacarias, who lived at a 2-story house in the block of 500 East Merle Lane, was pronounced dead while on life-support at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, two weeks after he suffered a mortal wound while he was hosting a party.
Police and firefighter/paramedics were called to the house on Merle Lane about 2:33 a.m. Sunday, April 22, 2018 to a report of a person stabbed. Police and firefighter/paramedics discovered two people stabbed, and requested a second ambulance. Zacarias and his 26-year-old brother were stabbed in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 22, police said.
Wheeling detectives and the multi-jurisdictional Major Case Assistance Team (MCAT) investigated the case throughout the day Sunday and into Sunday night and early Monday morning. Wheeling police detectives and MCAT closed the case several days later. Investigators determined a 19 year-old Wheeling man who stabbed the Zacarias brothers with a knife was acting in self-defense.
Zacarias’ death does not change the outcome of the investigation, according to Wheeling Police Department Deputy Chief Todd Wolff.
Zacarias was stabbed once in the head, police said. His brother, who also suffered a single stab wound, was released from the hospital on Monday, April 23, 2018.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office was scheduled to conduct an autopsy Monday, May 7, 2018.
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