Man charged with stabbing sister to death in East Garfield Park

Bail was set at $250,000 Tuesday for a 24-year-old man who allegedly stabbed his sister to death last weekend at an East Garfield Park home.

Lamont Mathews was taken into custody Sunday at the home in the 3400 block of West Walnut Street and later admitted to stabbing his sister, telling detectives that he did it because “people were out to get him,” Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said in court.

Michelle Nicole Mathews, 28, was found suffering from multiple stab wounds to her neck and chest when police arrived at the home around 6 p.m. that day, Murphy said. She died after being taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for treatment.

Lamont Mathews initially told police his sister was stabbed by an intruder who broke into the house, but surveillance video of the front and back doors of the home showed that no one had entered or left around that time, Murphy said.

Mathews was subsequently charged with first-degree murder, Chicago police said.

An assistant public defender said Mathews had been consistently employed since he was 13 years old and noted that his client had no other criminal history.

Judge Kelly McCarthy denied prosecutor’s request to hold Mathews without bail, and instead set his bail at $250,000 with electronic monitoring as a condition of his release.