A 42-year old woman was stabbed to death on Sunday by her 44 year old companion inside a medical center in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, while they were both apparently visiting a patient at the hospital.
The incident happened in the Alexian Brothers Medical Center situated in the municipality of Elk Grove Village in northeastern Illinois, about 20 miles from Chicago. The woman was suddenly attacked with a knife by the man – whose identity has not been disclosed – while they were both in the hospital’s hallway. The woman was rushed to the center’s emergency room, but doctors could not do anything to save her as she succumbed to the stab wounds a couple of hours after the incident.
The 44 year old suspect – apparently living in Elgin, Illinois – was immediately caught by the medical center’s security team and handed to police custody, which described him as being cooperative and questioned him late into the afternoon. No charges against the man were filed as of yet, but Elk Grove Village Deputy Police Chief Chuck Walsh declared that he will be brought in front of the Cook County Circuit Court on Monday.
The victim was identified as 42 year old Francesca Quintero, resident of Burlington, Wisconsin. According to the Daily Herald, the woman’s family revealed the fact that she had lived together with her assailant at one point, and that both were visiting a family member hospitalized in the Elk Grove Village center.
However, it is currently unknown if the victim and the suspect formed a couple or if they were relatives. Walsh said that he currently had no knowledge about the relation between the victim and the suspect when asked.
Elk Grove Village Police described the incident as being an isolated domestic dispute, with no staff member or patients of the Alexian Brothers Medical Center being harmed.
This incident might bolster the discussion of whether security in suburban hospitals might need to be cranked up, with violent scenes not being uncommon in such settings. Most recently, a 27-year old man was shot and killed by law enforcement officers inside an Illinois hospital last November, after threatening them with a gun while being under the influence of alcohol.
Image Source: Daily Herald