25 years for man who drank cleaning product before fatal stabbing

A Southwest Side man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for stabbing an 18-year-old woman to death at his roommate’s birthday party in 2014.

Adan Montano, 40, pleaded guilty to murder March 15 before Judge Mary Margaret Brosnahan, according to Cook County court records.

On the night of Jan. 6, 2014, Montano was acting “strange and belligerent” during his roommate’s birthday party in the 2900 block of West 63rd Street, and was asked to go back to his room, authorities said at the time.

Montano complied after punching his roommate in the back of the head, authorities said. The roommate responded by punching Montano in the face.

When the party started breaking up about 10 p.m., Montano emerged from his room holding a beer bottle in one hand and a butcher knife in the other, authorities said.

The roommate and a woman who were on the back porch with 18-year-old Stephanie Serrano managed to escape, but Serrano fell down, authorities said. Montano stabbed her in the face, arms and chest.

Montano also tried going after the other woman, but the roommate stepped in and hit him in the head with a pool cue, authorities said.

The roommate eventually wrestled the knife away from Montano, who allegedly drank the cleaning product “Fabuloso” before the attack.

Several witnesses identified Montano, but he ran away and later went to the Chicago Lawn police station to report that he had been the victim of a battery, authorities said.

He later admitted he attacked Serrano because the partygoers had beaten him earlier in the evening and when he confronted them about it, they laughed at him.

Judge Brosnahan sentenced Montano to 25 years in prison Wednesday, according to court records. He will receive credit for 1,157 days served in the Cook County Jail, and must serve three years of supervised release.

He was booked into the Stateville Correctional Center to begin serving his sentence Thursday, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.