Man raped, beat woman at knifepoint in Humboldt Park break-in: Prosecutors

Dequan Mayfield told the victim “I’m not a pervert, I’m just here to take stuff.” But he ended up sexually assaulting the woman multiple times before beating and choking her, prosecutors said.

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Leighton Criminal Courthouse

The Leighton Criminal Courthouse.

Sun-Times file

A parolee with a history of burglary convictions allegedly raped a woman at knifepoint and then beat and choked her after breaking into the Humboldt Park apartment she had been house-sitting for a friend.

Dequan Mayfield was staying at a friend’s apartment below the unit the 23-year-old woman was watching when he broke in by pushing an air conditioner out of a window on July 12, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney James Murphy said.

Mayfield, who entered the woman’s bedroom while she was watching television at 4 a.m., was wearing a ski mask and had socks over his hands while holding what appeared to be a switchblade knife, Murphy said.

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“I’m not a pervert, I’m just here to take stuff. I’ve been doing this for years. This is how I make money,” Murphy said Mayfield told the woman before forcing her to walk around the apartment with him so he could select items to steal.

Mayfield, 26, then put a condom on and went on to sexually assault the woman multiple times, Murphy said. Afterward, he allegedly made the woman take a shower and poured bleach over her body. When Mayfield ordered the woman to drink bleach while he held a large kitchen knife, she was able to run to the bedroom and pepper spray him, Murphy said.

Dequan Mayfield arrest photo

Dequan Mayfield

Chicago police

During an ensuing struggle, Mayfield’s mask came off and the woman saw his face, Murphy said. Mayfield then allegedly beat and choked the woman before wrapping an extension cord around her neck until she went limp.

“I don’t care if you are faking, I’m going to burn your body and you’re going to die,” Murphy said Mayfield told the woman.

When Mayfield went to the back of the apartment, the woman escaped out the front door and drove herself to a hospital.

When police learned Mayfield had been staying downstairs and had a history of convictions for burglary and sexual assault they placed his picture in a photo array. The woman identified Mayfield as her attacker in the photo array and a subsequent line-up, Murphy said.

Surveillance cameras showed Mayfield entering the apartment building about an hour before the crime and cellphone records placed him in the area at the time, Murphy said.

Murphy did not say where the alleged attack occurred, but police records listed the address around California Avenue and Division Street.

Mayfield was sentenced to probation for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl while she was intoxicated and unconscious when he was 16, prosecutors said. He has five burglary convictions and was released on parole in January for a burglary, state records show.

Mayfield has been diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia, his lawyer said. He had been working as a security guard and graduated from Columbia College with a bachelor’s degree in art and fashion, the defense attorney added.

Judge Arthur Wesley Willis ordered Mayfield held without bail on attempted murder and aggravated criminal sexual assault charges.

Mayfield is expected back in court Aug. 30.

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