Steger man found guilty of attempted murder in ‘brutal’ 2017 attack

A Steger man was convicted Tuesday of the “brutal attack” of a woman he was dating last year.

Rivaughn Lee, 40, was found guilty of attempted murder and aggravated battery, according to the Will County state’s attorney’s office.

On May 29, 2017, the woman went to Lee’s apartment to grab her Illinois identification card, prosecutors said. While she was there, Lee’s girlfriend showed up and the women realized they were both dating him at the same time.

During an ensuing argument, Lee accused the woman of lying before punching, kicking and choking her, prosecutors said. The woman, who Lee threatened to kill during the incident, defensively stabbed him with a fork in his head and arm.

Lee ultimately beat the woman unconscious twice before dragging her by the hair and leaving her lying in a pool of blood in a hallway, prosecutors said. After officers found her, she was airlifted to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and listed in serious condition.

“Rivaughn Lee brutalized this innocent woman in an attempt to silence her,” Will County State’s Attorney James W. Glasgow said in a statement. “But by fighting back, she survived his cowardly attack, and she bravely took the stand to testify truthfully against him and hold him accountable for his vicious actions.”

Lee faces between six and 30 years in prison when he’s sentenced on Nov. 20, prosecutors said.