A 72-year-old Oak Brook man was stabbed to death over the weekend because he refused to turn over $400 so a 19-year-old woman he had met through a classified dating ad could throw a party for herself, prosecutors said Monday.
Anthony Leyva, who was married and had two children, had been dating Evelyn Rivera, 19, twice a week for the last three months, prosecutors said. The two met through a classified advertisement placed in the baiduhai, according to Cook County Assistant State’s Atty. LuAnn Rodi (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text).
On Saturday night, during one of their regular meetings, Rivera asked Leyva to give two friends a ride in his 2000 Mercury Mystique to an elevated train station on the Southwest Side of Chicago. During the ride, one of Rivera’s friends demanded money from Leyva. When he refused, he was stabbed to death, prosecutors said.
“They planned to rob the victim and help Evelyn Rivera pay for a party before she left for Puerto Rico,” Rodi said during a bond hearing for the three suspects.
Cook County Circuit Judge Kevin Sheehan denied bond on Monday for 20-year-old John Searles, who is accused of stabbing Leyva. Rivera’s bond was set at $750,000. Vanessa Padin, 17, who also was in the car, had bond set at $550,000. All three live in the 3700 block of West 60th Place, and all three were charged with murder and attempted armed robbery.
Leyva, a retired electrician, will be buried Thursday. His wife, Marian, declined to talk at length about her husband, but said the family was “in shock.” She said she was out of town when the slaying occurred.
“My husband died a tragic and horrible death,” she said, adding that she identified his body at the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
“No one should have to go through that,” she said. “I didn’t get to say goodbye. I didn’t get to say, `I love you Tony.'”
Rodi said Padin and Searles had plotted to rob Leyva and discussed various scenarios. Searles proposed a carjacking and Rivera gave him a 12-inch knife to use, Rodi said.
Leyva picked Rivera up about 8 p.m. Saturday and agreed to give two of Rivera’s friends a ride to the “L” station. As Leyva was driving in the 5900 block of South Pulaski Road, Searles pulled the knife and demanded money, Rodi said.
When Leyva refused, Searles stabbed him in the side. Leyva stopped the car and the two women jumped out, Rodi said. When the car started moving again, Searles stabbed Leyva several times in the throat and then leapt from the car, Rodi said.
Leyva crashed into a gas station and was taken to Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn where he was pronounced dead.
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Rivera returned to the scene as police were investigating, Rodi said. She told Chicago police she witnessed the stabbing and gave police a description of a suspect, Rodi said.
Police officers drove Rivera home to tell her mother they planned to bring her to the station for further questioning. When they walked in, they saw Searles, who met the description Rivera had given.
All three suspects gave separate videotaped confessions, Rodi said.