A Naperville man accused of stabbing his former wife to death during an argument has been charged with first-degree murder, Naperville police said.
It was the third violent crime in as many weekends in Naperville and the city’s first murder of the year.
Zokir S. Kudratov, 55, was charged on a warrant Sunday, the day after he allegedly used a knife to attack his former spouse, who lived on a different floor from him in the same residence in the 2500 block of Saddlebrook Drive, a police news release said. The home is in the White Eagle subdivision near Route 59 and 95th Street.
Police arrived at the house about 9:35 a.m. Saturday in response to a call about someone who was not breathing. The victim was taken to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 1:49 p.m., the release said.
Police would not release the victim’s age and name and did not disclose how long the former couple had been divorced or why they were arguing.
Kudratov was taken into custody at the scene and is being held in the Will County jail. An interpreter who could speak Uzbek was required at his initial hearing Monday and will attend a detention hearing Wednesday at which a judge will decide if Kudratov will be released or detained pending the outcome of the case.
“To say these incidents are some of the most challenging and heartbreaking in policing is an understatement,” Police Chief Jason Arres said in a statement. “I commend our officers and investigators for their professionalism and diligence throughout this tragic situation.”
Only a week earlier, Naperville police were called out about shots fired during a fight June 30 in a Grand Reserve of Naperville apartment complex parking lot in the 1500 block of Watkins Lane, reports said. Three people had been arguing when a gun was fired, injuring a Bolingbrook man who took himself to an area hospital for treatment.
No arrest has been made in the case.
A week earlier, on June 23, a 30-year-old woman was found shot about 2:45 p.m. on a porch in the 1000 block of Iroquois Avenue, near Ogden Avenue and Naperville Road, police said.
The victim and suspect were acquaintances who got into a dispute that led to the woman being shot. Police would not disclose details about how the pair knew each other, what provoked the fight, whether the suspect is a man or woman or why the victim ended up on a porch where she did not live.
No arrest in that case has been made in this case either.