Sisters stabbed guard 27 times after being told to wear masks at Chicago store, prosecutors allege

He just asked them to wear masks and use hand sanitizer.

And for that, a security guard was stabbed 27 times by a woman while her younger sister held him by his hair in Lawndale over the weekend, Cook County prosecutors said.

“It’s the complete randomness of this. It’s terrifying,” Judge Mary Marubio said Tuesday before ordering the siblings held without bail on attempted murder charges.

Before the stabbing at Snipes shoe store Sunday, 18-year-old Jayla Hill took out her cellphone and began filming the security guard who asked her and her sister to leave for refusing to wear masks, prosecutors said.

Hill allegedly said she was calling someone to “kick his ass,” prompting the 6-foot-5, 270-pound security guard to reach out and try to grab the phone, prosecutors said.

Chicago police mugshot

Hill’s sister, Jessica Hill, 21, allegedly reacted by picking up a trash can that she “smashed” in the 32-year-old security guard’s face. Then, the two sisters began punching the man at the store, at 3258 W. Roosevelt Road, prosecutors said.

During the assault that was captured on surveillance cameras, Jessica Hill took out a “comb knife” with a hidden blade and began stabbing the security guard in his neck, back and arms while Jayla Hill grabbed his hair to keep from moving, prosecutors said.

The security guard and an assistant store manager pleaded for the sisters to stop, and when the victim finally broke free, the women allegedly kicked him in the head and body, prosecutors said.

“B- - - -,” Jessica Hill allegedly called the security guard, further taunting him that he had gotten “f- - - - - up” by her and her sister.

Chicago police

In spite of his wounds, the security guard was able to keep the sisters in the store until police arrived and arrested them, prosecutors said. The security guard was taken to a hospital for his injuries, but he did not need surgery.

The women had been acting in self-defense and were “overcharged,” their defense attorney said, arguing that Jayla Hill wouldn’t have been recording at the business if she and her sister intended to commit a crime.

While the attack may not have been premeditated, the “sheer number” of stab wounds was “of concern,” Marubio said, comparing the alleged assault to the emotional and violent outbursts often described in domestic cases.

“This is just too random and quickly escalating. I can’t fashion conditions that would protect the community.”

Snipes employees told a Chicago Sun-Times reporter Tuesday that they were told not to speak with the media. Inside the store, a security guard approached every customer who walked in and asked them what they needed. Sales associates stood away from the doors where hand sanitizer had been placed on a nearby table.

Rosalyn Frazier, a manager at the neighboring Rainbow Shops clothing store, wasn’t working Sunday but heard about the attack from co-workers.

“I’m kind of wary because we often have to tell customers to wear their masks, and they get irate and don’t want to do it,” she said. “We had a customer the other day that didn’t want to wear a mask and we needed to call the police. It’s crazy.”

Frazier, who said she and others are only trying to keep people safe and do what public officials are asking of them, doesn’t want the store to shut down because of rising coronavirus cases.

“We just got to work together,” she said. “And if we don’t, we are going to be locked down again and be out of work for another four months.”

The Hill sisters, who have no criminal history, are expected back in court Nov. 4.