Male offender Alonzo Campos was charged with the murder of 48-year-old Mariana Castro-Tellez, of Round Lake Beach, in her home early morning Friday May 17, 2019, and may have been at the house attempting to collect money for a game console, according to law enforcement.
Alonzo Campos, of the block of 24500 West Passavant Avenue in unincorporated Round Lake in Lake County was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing death Mariana Castro-Tellez in her home on the block of 1500 Cherokee Drive of Round Lake Beach. Round Lake Beach police responded to a report of shots fired at the home, where she was found dead in a pool of blood. Round Lake Beach Police requested the assistance of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force for the investigation. On Friday police did not initially release the type of injuries that had occurred.
In bond court Tuesday morning May 21, 2019, assistant State’s Attorney Russ Caskey said that Campos was detected on business surveillance cameras walking within a distance of roughly half mile between his home and the victim’s home. Caskey said a relative of the victim was able to identify Campos in the surveillance images.
The relative claimed the defendant Alonzo Campos and another person in the victim’s home “had an issue” over a PlayStation 4.
A relative also told police that Campos had appeared at the house last month seeking to collect money for the PlayStation, which had been pawned.
According to the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, investigators determined Campos allegedly entered the single-family home with a BB gun at about 4:40 a.m. and was confronted by the victim. Alonzo Campos allegedly shot Mariana Castro-Tellez several times with the BB gun, and then stabbed her fatally on a stairway at the home. Lake County Coroner Dr. Howard Cooper said the knife wound caused the fatal injury to Castro-Tellez, explaining that an autopsy Friday determined she died of sharp object trauma from the stabbing. Castro-Tellez crawled into an upstairs bedroom and collapsed after she was stabbed on the stairway.
The BB shots did not cause her death, but it was the sound of the BB gun firing that resulted in someone in the home calling police. Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Russ Caskey said the BB gun was discovered during a search of the home and was seized from the home, along with blood-stained clothes.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Russ Caskey said a homeowner, who lives along the route that police investigators say Campos used to walk to the victim’s house, found a bloody knife outside his house on Friday morning, May 17, 2019 — after the time Campos allegedly murdered Mariana Castro-Tellez. Investigators have not determined whether Campos had the knife when he entered the home, or whether he had obtained the knife after he entered the home; however, Campos is accused of using the knife to kill Mariana Castro-Tellez.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Russ Caskey said in court Tuesday, May 21, 2019 that after Campos was identified on the surveillance tapes, he was arrested and taken to the Round Lake Beach Police Station, where he was read his rights and interviewed.
During the interview, Campos did not admit to the crime, but Caskey said that police allegedly heard him “spontaneously” say “my life is over” and “I’m going to prison forever” after the interview with investigators was completed.
Additionally, Lake County State’s Attorney Russ Caskey said that shoes Campos had been wearing at the time he was seen on video were analyzed and tested. Red stains found on white areas of the shoes tested positive for blood.
Bond for Alonzo Campos was set at $2 million by Lake County Judge Paul Novak Tuesday morning in Lake County Bond Court. Lake County Judge Novak said that a “Status of Attorney” hearing for Campos was scheduled for June 18, 2019, and that a public defender would be appointed to represent Campos at the defendant’s request.
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Possible routes taken by the suspect from his house to the crime scene (route not released by police). The 0.5-mile walk takes approximately 2 minutes.