Prosecutors: Murder charges follow fatal Joliet stabbing

JOLIET – The Will County State's Attorney's Office has filed murder charges against the man who allegedly stabbed a Joliet man in a street brawl Sunday night.

Rudy Valdez, 25, died Monday afternoon at Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center. Rodolfo Trujillo, 19, of Joliet, was initially charged with attempted murder and mob action Sunday after witnesses allegedly saw him holding a knife while fighting Valdez. Oracio Loera, 20, of Joliet, has also been charged with mob action, according to state's attorney's spokesman Charles Pelkie.

"We reviewed the appropriate charges [since the victim's death] and filed two counts of first-degree murder," Pelkie said Tuesday.

Police were called about 10 p.m. Sunday to a fight in the 2900 block of Reflection Court and found Valdez unresponsive in a nearby yard. Will County Coroner Patrick K. O'Neil said an autopsy performed Tuesday showed Valdez died of multiple stab wounds.

"Trujillo was upset with the victim over a $40 purchase of bad marijuana," Deputy Police Chief Al Roechner said Monday.

Police said a 19-year-old friend of the suspects was stabbed accidentally during the street fight and fled the scene in a Jeep that crashed minutes later in Plainfield. His wounds were not life-threatening.

Trujillo was found guilty in a 2014 shoplifting incident in Romeoville after failing to appear in court, according to court records. He was also ticketed earlier this year for traffic violations in Shorewood and Plainfield.

Court records show Valdez was ticketed last month by Channahon police for having a small amount of marijuana.

He was also cited earlier this year for improperly using a cellphone while driving by Shorewood police. According to jail records, Valdez was arrested on charges of identity theft in 2013 by Joliet police, domestic battery and criminal trespass to vehicles in 2013 by Romeoville police and vandalism and driving with a suspended license in 2011 by Bolingbrook police.