A Chicago teenager was charged for the murder of a man who was discovered decapitated by authorities on Christmas Day, KWTX.com reported.
Police arrested 18-year-old Alexis Valdez and charged him with first-degree murder in the death of 41-year-old Sylvester Diaz-Hernandez. According to CBS Chicago, the man was the boyfriend of Valdez's aunt.
DNAinfo Chicago reported that Valdez lived in the apartment with his aunt and Diaz-Hernandez, and tension formed when he refused to help with things around the house.
Court documents say Valdez and his aunt's boyfriend left the apartment together to pick up more beer on Tuesday. Before they left, Valdez hid a hammer behind the door that he used to attack Diaz-Hernandez.
Valdez then reportedly gauged his eyeballs out with his hands and cut off his nose, ears, and head with a knife and saw.
In court, Assistant State's Attorney Kingsley Sawyers said Valdez put the body parts on his aunt's bed as a "message" to her and allegedly told police he would have killed her too if she found her boyfriend's body.
Diaz-Hernandez's body was found in his apartment early Wednesday after someone made a call to authorities around 2 a.m. During the initial investigation, police found a knife in the apartment.
Officials did not include whether he was decapitated before or after he died, but the Cook County medical examiner's office said he died of "multiple blunt and sharp-force injuries."
According to Courtney Gousman of CBS Chicago, the judge denied bail for the teen.
