Man murdered disabled dad, tried to stab mom in in West Town, prosecutors say

Michael Tate, 38, faces a count of first-degree murder in the death of 74-year-old James Tate, authorities say.

SHARE Man murdered disabled dad, tried to stab mom in in West Town, prosecutors say
The entrance of a home is taped off as police investigate a stabbing in the 2100 block of West Randolph Street on Jan. 19. 2020 in West Town.

The entrance of a home is taped off as police investigate a stabbing in the 2100 block of West Randolph Street on Jan. 19. 2020 in West Town.

Carly Behm/Sun-Times

Bail was denied Tuesday for a man prosecutors say fatally stabbed his disabled 74-year-old father and tried to stab his mother over an argument last weekend that stemmed from his drinking.

Michael Tate, 38, faces a count of first-degree murder in the death of his father, James Tate, who was stabbed twice Sunday night and later died of his wounds at Stroger Hospital.

Michael Tate was taken into custody shortly after the stabbing by private security officers responding to a 911 call from his mother, Cook County prosecutors said during his initial hearing on the charge Tuesday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building

Judge David Navarro denied Tate bail, citing both the current charge against him and the number of convictions involving weapons and violence in his past.

Michael Tate

Michael Tate

Chicago police

Prosecutors said Tate’s mother went to the kitchen shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday at her home in the 2100 block of West Randolph Street when she noticed someone was cooking and found her son, who lives in Tri-Taylor separately from his parents.

The two got into an argument when she found towels and her son’s jacket on a bathroom floor and noticed an odor of alcohol coming from him, prosecutors said. Tate’s mother and father told him he was not allowed to be in the house if he’d been drinking and told him he would have to leave in the morning, prosecutors said.

Tate’s father went back to his bedroom and Tate’s mother began cleaning dishes in the sink when Michael Tate grabbed a knife out of a butcher’s block, prosecutors said. His mother grabbed the knife, but before she could replace it, Tate had allegedly grabbed another.

Michael Tate threatened his mother with the knife, causing her to step back and fall; he then tried to stab her, prosecutors said. She kicked Tate and went onto the home’s front porch, but was followed by her son, who tried to stab her again. When she tried to run back inside, Tate beat her to the door and then prevented her from getting inside. She then went to her mother’s home next door and called 911, prosecutors said.

Other family members saw Michael Tate leaving through the front door and pointed Tate out to private security officers as he fled, prosecutors said.

As security officers grabbed Michael Tate, he threw a knife to the ground, and a second bloody knife was also found in the home’s living room, prosecutors said.

James Tate, who used a walker following recent heart and arm surgery, was later found on the floor of his bedroom next to his walker, which was covered in blood, prosecutors said. He was pronounced dead at 9:55 p.m. at Stroger Hospital.

Michael Tate has prior convictions for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, vehicular hijacking, theft and resisting arrest, unlawful use of a weapon and domestic battery, prosecutors said.

An assistant public defender for Michael Tate said he had been working for the past year and is a lifelong resident of the city.

Tate was scheduled to appear in court next on Feb. 10.

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