Houseguest Stabbed Woman After Holding Her Captive, Prosecutors Say

SKOKIE, IL — A woman who allowed an acquaintance of her son to stay at her condominium was stabbed by the houseguest after he held against her will in her own bedroom for days, authorities said.

Joshua Bracy, 22, of Des Plaines, has been charged with aggravated battery, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and felon in possession of a deadly weapon with intent to harm, records show.

According to prosecutors, a 56-year-old woman agreed to allow Bracy, a parolee with a history of violence against women, to stay at her home in the 9700 block of North Dee Road in unincorporated Maine Township, where she lived with her son and his girlfriend.

While the woman gave Bracy permission to sleep in the main room, he asked her if he could come into her bedroom to play a videogame on her television. She allowed him in, but after that, he closed the door and took her captive in her room, prosecutors said Monday at his initial court appearance.

"Over the next 48 hours, [Bracy] was constantly in the [woman's] bedroom playing video games," Dunn said. "[Bracy] threatened to kill [her] family members in their sleep if the [woman] tried to leave or told them what he was doing."

Dunn said Bracy hid the woman's cell phone under her bed and refused to allow her to call for help.

"From Feb. 2 to Feb. 4, the [woman] had to request permission from the D to leave her own bedroom for meals and to use the bathroom," Dunn said.

When the woman's son asked why Bracy kept closing the door to his mother's bedroom, Bracy told him it was because he "does not like open spaces," according to the prosecutor.

On Saturday, Bracy told the woman he was interested in her romantically. When she explained she had no such interest in him, he stopped letting her use a toilet.

"[Bracy] refused to allow the [woman] to use the bathroom. [Bracy] told the [woman] that she could either urinate on herself or in a bottle," Dunn said. "After [she] told [him] she was not interested in him romantically, [Bracy] became enraged and began stabbing at [her] mattress with his pocket knife."

The prosecutor said Bracy ripped apart the bed and, while holding a lighter, threatened to set it on fire. Alerted by a sound in the bedroom, the woman's son opened the door, and she ran out to use the bathroom after waiting for more than three hours.

As the girlfriend of the woman's son tried to push Bracy out of the condo, it appeared he was about to attack her, so the woman jumped in between them, Dunn said. At that point, Bracy stabbed her twice in the stomach.

Bracy then chased the residents around the room, yelling at them not to call police or press charges, as the woman used a mattress as a shield to prevent further stab wounds. Bracy tried to hand over the knife to the son of the woman he stabbed, according to the prosecutor.

When he refused, Bracy threw the knife off the balcony, where it was later found by police, Dunn said. The woman was taken to Lutheran General Hospital, where she was treated for her stab wounds and released.

According to prosecutors, Bracy had an extensive criminal record prior to being paroled last fall.

After pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated battery, Bracy was sentenced to five years in state prison in 2021 in connection with attacks on a security guard and nurse, who suffered serious injuries.

Another count of aggravated domestic battery causing great bodily harm was dismissed as part of his plea deal. A family member suffered a broken eye socket, head fracture and cuts to her hand in the incident that led to Bracy's eventual guilty plea and prison sentence, according to the prosecutor.

Bracy was also previously convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence charge in 2019 after he struck a romantic interest with a two-by-four. In that case, Dunn said, he "made references to [Bracy] stabbing the petitioner [for an order of protection] with a screwdriver and burning [her] with cigarettes ... [and] to harm the family and burn the house down."

The prosecutor said Bracy also had an extensive juvenile criminal record, including incidents of arson and domestic violence.

Records show Bracy was released on mandatory supervised release on Oct. 28, 2022, after spending 13 months in the Illinois Department of Corrections, which placed a parole hold on him following this week's arrest.

Cook County Associate Judge Anthony Calabrese said Bracy's criminal history shows a "violent character" before ordering Bracy jailed unless he can come up with $40,000 to secure his pretrial release on the new charge.

"He is basically holding this 56-year-old woman in custody, for want of a better term, in her own bedroom in her own home," Calabrese said.

"I do believe that the defendant is a danger to the community," he said, "based on his history and based on the circumstances alleged here."