McHenry Co. State’s Attorney exonerates Harvard officer involved in shooting death

A Harvard police officer was exonerated this week in the June 3 shooting death of a 33-year-old Harvard man who had just stabbed to death a former girlfriend, according to a report McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally released Thursday.

“Upon completion of this independent investigation, the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office carefully reviewed all the evidence and determined that Officer Tobias’ use of deadly force was justified,” according to the report.

Harvard Chief of Police Tyson Bauman said it was the first officer-involved shooting death in the city in at least the past 40 years.

“This incident is and was all about the officers responding to help Elizabeth [Alvarado-Garcia] in her time of need. She was a victim of domestic violence that escalated and ultimately ended in tragedy that night,” Bauman said.

The report released online links to video from the officers’ body camera footage taken that night and includes a narrative of the events that led up to the shooting, including outlining the extent of Alvarado-Garcia’s injuries.

When officer arrived on the scene, they yelled in both Spanish and English for Daniel Alvarado-Aguilar to drop a knife. One of the officers on scene used a stun gun on him twice, and two other officers pulled him off the woman as he dropped the knife, according to the report.

Alvarado-Aguilar went to grab the knife again when Sgt. Trent Tobias shot and killed him, according to the report.

“I’m glad the officer’s life was not negatively affected.”

—  Elizabeth Alvarado-Garcia's brother, Noé Mercado

Alvarado-Aguilar’s victim, a former girlfriend, was identified as Elizabeth Alvarado-Garcia, 24, of Harvard. The mother of two was pronounced dead en route to Mercyhealth Hospital and Medical Center-Harvard, the McHenry County coroner said.

“A subsequent autopsy revealed she had been stabbed over 40 times,” according to the report.

According to the report, the two had dated for about six months and had moved in together, sharing a home with two other friends and three children.

Then, in May, Alvarado-Aguilar was kicked out of the home in the 700 block of Dewey Street, according to the report, “because he had choked and punched Elizabeth Alvarado-Garcia during an argument.”

That echoes statements made by Alvarado-Garcia’s brother, Noé Mercado. He told the Northwest Herald the two had broken up just three weeks before she was killed.

When told Thursday that the officer was cleared in the shooting, Mercado said “that’s good news. I’m glad the officer’s life was not negatively affected.”

On that day, both Alvarado-Garcia and Alvarado-Aguilar attended Harvard Milk Days separately. Witnesses told investigators that Alvarado-Aguilar was angry, believing Alvarado-Aguilar was “was dating someone else.”

She returned home at about 11:30 p.m. to find “Alvarado-Aguilar had broken into ... [the] home and was lying in wait armed with a ‘large’ knife.”

Grabbing her by the hair, Alvarado-Aguilar directed her out the front door, where he was confronted by the two other housemates. One of those people immediately called police.

Before police arrived, Alvarado-Aguilar began stabbing her in the back and the head, calling her a slur “for cheating on him,” according to the report.

He then began stabbing himself in the chest while standing over Alvarado-Garcia before laying on top of her and “hugging her,” according to the report.

Four officers arrived on the scene and found Alvarado-Aguilar on top of Alvarado-Garcia “both covered in blood.”

He was instructed in both Spanish and English to get off the woman but did not comply. One of the officers, identified in the report as Todd Ozcus, used a stun gun on Alvarado-Aguilar twice. Two other officers, Jose Andrade and Alexandra Mendlik, pulled him off Alvarado-Garcia, causing him to drop the knife.

He then reached for the knife. Tobias fired his gun six times, hitting Alvarado-Aguilar four times.

His subsequent autopsy “revealed a blood alcohol concentration of .092 g/dL and the presence of cocaine,” according to the report.

The McHenry County Major Investigation Assistance Team investigated the shooting, according to the release.