Woman accused of killing boyfriend played music, danced while handcuffed
A woman accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend asked Google to play music and began dancing while handcuffed inside their West Ridge apartment moments after the February attack, prosecutors said.
Whitney Wilcox was later released from custody without being charged, but she was rearrested Monday and charged with one count of first-degree murder after new DNA evidence emerged, Cook County prosecutors said.
Wilcox, 40, and Jeremy Rodgers were arguing around 2:20 a.m. Feb. 26 inside their apartment in the 6200 block of North Hoyne Avenue when Wilcox allegedly stabbed him in the abdomen with a kitchen knife, prosecutors said.
Responding officers found Rodgers, 42, on the floor near the bathroom, and they called for paramedics, prosecutors said. Wilcox was applying pressure to his wound when she allegedly told officers that she stabbed him.
Officers then searched the apartment and found a large bloody knife next to the kitchen sink, according to prosecutors.
Wilcox was placed in handcuffs. As she was waiting to be taken to jail, Wilcox “ordered her [G]oogle device to play several songs and danced while handcuffed in the living room,” court documents said.
She also stated that she stabbed Rodgers in self-defense as they were fighting, prosecutors said. Rodgers, who was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, allegedly told police and medical staff that Wilcox stabbed him.
Rodgers was pronounced dead the next day at the hospital, and his death was ruled a homicide by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
DNA test results recently found Rodgers’ blood and Wilcox’s DNA on the kitchen knife found at the scene, leading to her arrest Monday at her home, officials said.
Wilcox was ordered detained while awaiting trial. Her next court date was scheduled for Dec. 24.