After reviewing video footage, Lake County prosecutors said Tuesday they have dropped murder charges against one of the brothers named in the recent stabbing death of a Waukegan restaurant owner.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office said that after watching video of the attack captured by a restaurant camera, prosecutors did not believe murder charges were appropriate for Iziah Gonzalez. The 21-year-old Round Lake resident was charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Joshua Kirkwood, 51.
Gonzalez’s brother, Jordan Roque, 16, still faces murder charges in the death of Kirkwood, who was fatally stabbed on Feb. 8 at the Forty One Fourteen Steaks and Seafood restaurant on Green Bay Road.
Authorities originally said that the brothers attacked Kirkwood after their mother, a manager at the restaurant, and Kirkwood became embroiled in a loud argument. The brothers were at the restaurant that night for a baby gender reveal party, police said. The mother and Kirkwood were involved in a relationship, police said.
Prosecutors said Tuesday that their review showed that Gonzalez pushed Kirkwood during a confrontation in his office before Roque stabbed Kirkwood.
“Prosecutors determined that there was no evidence that the brothers were working together to stab Mr. Kirkwood,” the state’s attorney’s office said in a statement. “Instead, the second attacker, Roque, picked up a kitchen knife and jumped into the fight after Mr. Gonzalez shoved Kirkwood. Mr. Gonzalez was never armed, and the video now makes it clear that Gonzalez could not have seen Roque’s knife.”
The case remains under review and Gonzalez could face charges for starting the fight, prosecutors said, but the evidence does not support a murder charge.
The prosecutors said two employees, including the mother, removed cameras after the stabbing, which prevented authorities and police from definitively determining what happened in the immediate aftermath of the killing.
The mother, Veronica Roque, has been charged with obstruction of justice and other counts. Another woman has reportedly been charged with obstruction of justice.
Judge Patricia Fix formally dismissed the charges against Gonzalez Tuesday, prosecutors said.
“Our ethical, moral, and legal duties require us to act quickly in the name of justice when we uncover new evidence,” prosecutors said.
