West Chicago man sentenced to 22 years for stabbing man multiple times in the back, killing him
Joel Munoz-Valdez
WEST CHICAGO, Ill. - A West Chicago man has been sentenced to 22 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for fatally stabbing a man in the back and leg in 2020.
Joel Munoz-Valdez, 26, plead guilty to first-degree murder charges in the death of Luis Lopez.
The state upgraded the initial aggravated battery charges filed against Munoz-Valdez to first-degree murder charges after Lopez died as a result of his injuries.
According to prosecutors, at about 10:40 p.m. on Feb. 26, 2020, Munoz-Valdez approached Lopez outside of a home on the 800 block of Brentwood in West Chicago.
During an altercation between Munoz-Valdez and Lopez, Munoz-Valdez took a knife out of his pocket and stabbed Lopez several times in the back and leg.
Munoz-Valdez then fled the scene.
He was apprehended in Naperville on Feb. 29, 2020.
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After the attack, Lopez was taken to the hospital. He died on March 6, 2020.
"Just over two years ago, Joel Munoz-Valdez decided to end a verbal argument with a knife," DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said. "His actions however, not only ended the argument, but also ended Luis Lopez’s life."
Munoz-Valdez will be required to serve his full sentence before being eligible for parole.