In Illinois, two brothers have been detained and accused in relation to the death of a father of four and restaurant owner who was allegedly seeing their mother.
The incident happened inside a restaurant on the 2100 block of North Green Bay Road on Saturday, February 8, at around 11:27 p.m. local time, according to a news statement from the Waukegan Police Department that PEOPLE was given. According to some stories, the restaurant is called Forty One Fourteen Steaks and Seafood.
A 51-year-old guy was discovered by officers with “multiple stab wounds in critical condition.” Later, the Lake County Coroner’s Office recognized him as Waukegan, Illinois resident Joshua Kirkwood.
According to ABC7, Kirkwood, a father of four, assisted his son in running the eatery. He was taken to Vista Medical Center East, where he passed away in the emergency department.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office postmortem results, according to the police, showed that Kirkwood passed away from “multiple sharp force injuries.”
Police say the incident “appears to be domestically related, as Kirkwood was reported to be in a relationship with the suspects’ mother.”
Iziah Gonzalez, 21, a resident of Round Lake, was one of the two suspects. He and his mother, whose name was withheld, were coworkers at the restaurant.
“After an argument between Kirkwood and the mother, Gonzalez got into a physical altercation with him,” according to police. After that, González’s brother entered the fight and started stabbing Kirkwood. when his mother was treated at Vista Medical Center after suffering a cut to her leg.
Police have characterized Gonzalez’s brother as a 16-year-old Waukegan resident, but they have not revealed his identity.
The Chicago Tribune was able to access a petition filed by Lake County prosecutors that stated that an employee informed police that Kirkwood and the mother had a “heated discussion” in Kirkwood’s office and that the incident occurred during their frequent arguments.
It did “not appear to be related” to Kirkwood’s stabbing, according to the police, even though a “event” was occurring at the restaurant at the time of the crime. According to NBC 5 Chicago, it was a sex reveal party.
Gonzalez’s finger was lacerated, according to the police press release. After being arrested and charged with first-degree murder, he gave a statement. He is still being held at Lake County Jail, according to online records.
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Police charged his brother, who they said “did the stabbing,” with first-degree murder as an adult. Police said that after detectives failed to find the 16-year-old, he turned himself in at the Waukegan Police Department on Monday, February 10.
According to The Chicago Tribune, the mother was not charged.
“All he wanted was a spot for games, karaoke, and brunch. Regarding Kirkwood’s passing, Waukegan resident Jurnee Iverson told ABC7, “I really haven’t come to terms with it yet, because it’s the exact opposite of what he was striving for.”
Contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or visit thehotline.org if you are a victim of domestic abuse. Every call is private and toll-free. The hotline is available in over 170 languages around-the-clock.
