More Top Picks Outdoor Sofa
player ready...A jury on Tuesday convicted a Dolton man of the 2010 murder of his ex-girlfriend, who was set to testify against him for trying to kill her in an earlier attack, according to prosecutors and court records.
Terrence Coulter, 41, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the beating and strangulation of Dana Hayes, 35, whose decomposed body was found in a field in south suburban Thornton in March 2010, according to court records.
Coulter is eligible for natural life in prison for murder of a witness, according to state’s attorney’s office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton and court records.
Prosecutors have said Hayes was killed to keep her from testifying against Coulter in a trial on charges he tried to kill her in November 2007.
Hayes disappeared after meeting with Coulter, of the 14800 block of Kenwood in Dolton, at the Starlight Hotel in South Holland, where he rented a room in January 2010, prosecutors said at the time he was charged. Hayes met with Coulter willingly, but sometime Jan. 24 or 25, he beat and strangled her and slashed her throat, prosecutors said.
Coulter then hid the homicide by moving Hayes’ body to a Thornton field, where it was found on March 23, 2010, according to prosecutors. It was later identified through DNA testing.
Two days after Hayes’ family reported her missing in January 2010, her silver 2005 Kia Spectra was found parked on a residential street in Harvey. Coulter became an immediate suspect.
Police found physical evidence at the motel, including Hayes’ blood, according to prosecutors.
In the 2007 case, Coulter was accused of stabbing Hayes more than a dozen times in the head, neck and upper body in Riverdale on Nov. 18, 2007, according to court records.
He was charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery. After the incident, Hayes and her teenage son were granted an order of protection against Coulter to last the span of the case, records show.
Attorneys in the case were expected to appear before Cook County Judge Brian Flaherty, who presided over Coulter’s trial, for posttrial motions on March 8, according to court records and Simonton.
RELATED