Kankakee man, 19, charged following Oswego Chick-fil-A stabbing
A 19-year-old Kankakee man has been charged with first-degree murder following a fatal stabbing Wednesday at an Oswego Chick-fil-A that left a delivery driver dead and a maintenance worker hospitalized, according to the Oswego Police Department.
The Kendall County State’s Attorney’s Office is charging Darryl Lee Jr., 19, of Kankakee, with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, concealment of a homicide, aggravated battery, armed robbery, armed violence and burglary following Wednesday’s incident, according to a news release from the Oswego Police Department.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Oswego police were called to an Oswego Chick-fil-A restaurant on the 2700 block of Route 34 for a report of a stabbing, according to previous reports. There, they found Lee being held by two contracted maintenance workers, police said Thursday.
Lee was taken into custody and officers began providing medical aid to one of the workers, who had been stabbed, the department said. The Oswego Fire Protection District eventually arrived and began assisting, and the injured 20-year-old man was transported to an area hospital. He was in stable condition Thursday evening, according to police.
Officers searched the restaurant and found the other stabbed person, a delivery driver, unconscious, according to previous reports. Despite attempts at medical treatment, the individual was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.
The deceased delivery driver has since been identified, police said Thursday, as Tracey J. Land, 52, of Bridgeview.
The Kendall County Coroner’s Office conducted an autopsy, the police department’s news release states, and the preliminary investigation indicates Land suffered multiple traumatic injuries. The final cause and manner of death remains under further investigation by the coroner’s office and the Oswego Police Department, officials said.
The police investigation indicates that Land was making a delivery to Chick-fil-a when, around 3:10 a.m., the alleged attacker broke into the restaurant, attacking Land with a hammer and a knife, Oswego police said Thursday. Lee is believed to have remained in the restaurant attempting to clean up the area, police said.
He then left the restaurant around 4:56 a.m. and allegedly attacked the maintenance worker from behind, stabbing him with a knife, according to the department. New details from the police department Thursday indicate Lee was subdued by the maintenance worker with the help of his mother, who was working on-site with him.
The Chick-fil-A store does not open to the public until 6:30 a.m. on Wednesdays. No employee of the restaurant was present at the time of the incident, police said.
Lee was taken by Oswego police to the Kendall County Jail and was in custody Thursday evening, police said. His hearing was scheduled for Friday.
Oswego Police Chief Jason Bastin called the incident an “unprovoked attack” and said the department was “grateful for the courage of those who responded and for the coordinated response” from department officers, firefighters and assisting agencies.
Assisting in the investigation were the Montgomery Police Department, Kendall County Sheriff’s Office, Kendall County Major Crimes Task Force, Kendall County State’s Attorney’s Office and Kendall County Coroner’s Office, according to the police department.
According to Oswego Police, more information will be released as it becomes available.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
