Victim stabbed more than 50 times with kitchen knife, suspect arrested

An Illinois man has been arrested after he allegedly stabbed a victim more than 50 times with a kitchen knife following an argument.

Francisco J. Polomares-Mendez, 20, was charged with first-degree murder and faces between 20 and 60 years in prison, according to Cardinal News.

Police were called to the 700 block of Hill Drive in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, around 11:45 p.m. Sept. 20, Cardinal News reported.

When paramedics tried to care for the stabbing victim, they discovered he was already in cardiac arrest at the scene, according to Cardinal News.

Officers reported the victim was lying on the ground with “deep and voluminous” wounds, and physicians at the emergency department at the hospital said the man was “stabbed in excess of 50 times," according to Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Mary McMahon, Cardinal News reported.

Prosecutors said Palomares-Mendez and the victim had been drinking at the scene, and a fight broke out between the two, Cardinal News reported.

Another male acquaintance then approached the two, and Polomares-Mendez got a kitchen knife from his backpack. He then stabbed the victim in the chest, abdomen and back, according to Cardinal News.

Police think there may have been a prior relationship between the victim and the suspects, according to Cardinal News. After the stabbing, Polomares-Mendez and the second acquaintance fled, Cardinal News reported.

Polomares-Mendez was identified from video evidence, according to Cardinal News.

Police searched Polomares-Mendez’s residence and discovered blood in the sink and a shirt with blood stains that matched the shirt he wore during the stabbing, Cardinal News reported.

Cook County Judge Ellen Mandeltort held Polomares-Mendez without bail at request of the prosecutors, who referred to the “gruesome and excessively violent nature of the attack,” Cardinal News reported.