Evanston police say a man is hospitalized in critical condition after he was stabbed repeatedly about 8 p.m. Thursday in the 900 block of Maple Avenue.
Deputy Chief Melissa Sacluti says detectives have a person of interest in the stabbing in custody and are continuing their investigation.
She says the suspect was arrested in the parking lot of the Jewel-Osco supermarket at 1128 Chicago Ave., about five blocks from where the attack occurred.
Further details about the incident were not immediately available.
Update 2:15 p.m.: Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th), in an email to a concerned resident, said police believe the victim is a resident of the Albany Care nursing home at 901 Maple Ave., and that the suspect is a former resident of the facility.
Nieuwsma says he’s asked Albany Care management to meet with city officials next week.
Update 2:30 p.m. 8/24/23: Evanston police today identified the person arrested in the stabbing incident as Marcus Walton, 33, of 855 Hinman Ave.
He faces one felony count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Albany Care…. shocking.
Anyone with a heartbeat that lays their eyes on the cesspool that is Grey Park, (a public resource, mind you) knows that there is constant drug use, drug sales, prostitution, public urination and defecation happening throughout the day. Albany Care is the bane of Southeast Evanston, if not this entire town. It reports itself as a treatment center for those suffering from chronic mental illness. It is nothing more than a warehouse that stores unknowing mentally ill patients, thereby supplying its owners with a constant flow of cash and subsidies. We keep asking ourselves what needs to happen in order for Albany care to change, and clearly the answer is it will never change. Someone is in critical condition, blood still staining the sidewalk as of 1:00 p.m. this afternoon, and Albany Care will continue to operate, as normal, under the threat of fine or increase restrictions from IDPH. People, right now, are still strewn across the sidewalks high is a kite. People are still out there begging. People are still selling drugs in the park. The reality is, the fines will do nothing, and the restrictions only set a limit as to the bare minimum of standards that Albany care must adhere to in order to continue to operate.
I feel sorry for the victim and for the few people that actually believe they are at Albany care to receive some sort of treatment. I feel bad for all the neighbors on Maple and all the neighbors on Main as well as all the business owners that have to deal with the constant parade of panhandlers walking up and down the street, begging for money only to buy drugs, get high, terrorize the neighborhood and repeat. This is all happening within hundreds of feet of Park School, and within two blocks of Nichols Middle School. (Where the hell is d65 in this fight, by the way.) This has been happening for years.
So good job IDPH. Good job civic leaders of our fine town. These residents don’t need money, they don’t need meetings, they don’t need finger wagging. What they need is to be safely relocated so they can receive proper treatment and support. Furthermore, their current care facility needs to be held accountable and closed down. And the longer anyone continues to deny that fact, the longer this entire town, and the residents of Albany Care will suffer.
Dan Biss has told residents who alert him about escalating Albany and Connections – driven crime and vagrancy “you’re concerns are in the minority.” He apparently doesn’t believe Chief Eddington’s evaluation of drivers of crime.
Well, Dan – how far do you want Evanston to decline from the growing influx of scary vagrants from all over Chicagoland brought in by social services agencies, before you believe we have a problem?
Albany and Connections recruit these bad actors to Evanston every day. They get paid to fill beds regardless of the negative impact to our community.
Downtown – Chicago-Main is an ugly mess including an encampment at Benson and Clark (that’s in downtown Evanston, Dan, far from your home near the parking lot of Old Orchard).
Keep ignoring this and watch what happens. This will get much worse as more troublesome people are drawn to Evanston’s leniency with bad behaviors.
About time city council/leadership grows up and stops focusing on the silly virtue baloney propagated by Devon Reid.
This is a good opportunity for our Aldermen to shut Albany Care down.
What happened with Biss’ much-promoted ‘Living Room’ that was supposed to solve all these problems?
I appreciate all the comments above. CAN our alder people get this place shut down? So many of us who live nearby would love nothing more. It has been a dangerous place for many years now and is actually very scary for the residents who are simply trying to live there and have some peace.
There needs to be a stronger push from more Evanston residents, and an equal measure response from elected officials, for significant change from the operators of Albany Care (if not a total shutdown). The people who seek mental health treatment are not being properly cared for. And the people who live near the facility are increasingly on edge given the clear deterioration that is happening around them. Maybe a public campaign or referendum or continuous presence at City Council meetings, IDK. Something has to change – this is a ticking time bomb. As if a stabbing isn’t bad enough with blood on our sidewalks…let’s not wait around and watch it get worse. Everyone deserves better. We can do better.