A man who was being questioned for the fatal stabbing of an employee at a downtown Chase bank Wednesday has been charged with first degree murder, police announced Friday.
Jawaun Westbrook, 35, was charged with the death of Jessica Vilaythong, 24, and expected to appear in Central Bond Court Saturday, according to a news release from Chicago police.
Police said the 24-year-old bank teller was stabbed in the left side of her neck after having a "brief conversation" with a man while inside the bank around 11:12 a.m. Wednesday in the 600 block of North Dearborn.
The stabbing, police said, was captured on high-quality video, allowing detectives to see the specific details of the shirt the suspect was wearing, said Brendan Deenihan, chief of detectives with the Chicago Police Department.
Police distributed the image, set up a "grid search," and a short time later, officers with CPD's News Affairs division spotted Westbrook, who had just entered a location in the 0-100 block of North State Street.
"Due to calling for back up and having the proper people there, we were able to take him into custody without further harming somebody else or an officer," Deenihan said. "It really was a good job to get that person taken into custody that quickly, especially everybody was afraid that he could harm or be harming somebody else during that timeframe."
The weapon used in the stabbing was found on the suspect and secured by police, authorities said.
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Westbrook was previously charged with attacking two women at Navy Pier in 2014, according to police.
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According to NBC 5 Investigates, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Three years later, a judge ordered that he be sent to a mental health center.
Before Wednesday's stabbing, Westbrook had been charged with 11 felonies, including attempted murder and aggravated battery, records show.
