A woman has been charged with fatally stabbing her daughter’s father in the neck with a kitchen knife during a heated argument.
Deanna Coakley, 27, is accused of killing Joseph Strock, 31, at her home in the city of Warrenville, Illinois, on Feb. 13.
DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a statement on Feb. 16 that State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin and Warrenville Chief of Police Raymond Turano announced that bond has been set for the woman.
“On February 13, 2022, at approximately 6:51 p.m., Warrenville police officers responded to a call at Coakley’s residence for a report of a woman screaming.
“Upon their arrival, officers found Coakley on top of a male, later identified as Strock, near the front of the residence directly in front of the door.”
The statement continued: “Strock was bleeding from the neck and a large pool of blood was under his body. Strock was transported to a local hospital for a laceration to the right side of his neck and was pronounced deceased.”
Warrenville Police Department investigated, and allege that “at some point in the evening, a verbal altercation between Coakley and Strock turned physical.” It was then that Coakley allegedly stabbed Strock in the neck with a kitchen knife.
“It is alleged that following the stabbing, Strock exited the apartment and collapsed on the ground outside the front door where authorities found him.”
State attorney Robert B. Berlin said: “Nationwide, domestic violence remains a silent epidemic that unfortunately occurs predominantly behind closed doors.
“If left unchecked however, the consequences can be deadly, as is alleged in this case. I urge anyone who finds themselves in an abusive relationship to seek help from any of a multitude of social-service programs available throughout the country that offer assistance and guidance to people in an abusive relationship.”
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence says on average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner.
The Warrenville police chief said: “I am extremely pleased that through the hard work and professionalism of the Warrenville Police Department, DuPage County MERIT and the DuPage County Coroner’s Office, we were able to bring a successful resolution to this tragic incident.”
Coakley is expected to appear in court on March 10. Her bond has been set at $1 million.
In Illinois, more than 41 percent of women and nearly 26 percent of men say they have been victims of domestic violence. Illinois saw 78 deaths from domestic violence from July 2020 to June 2021, according to the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Edited by Fern Siegel and Kristen Butler
