CHICAGO _ A suspect in three fatal stabbings on Chicago's West Side admitted after his arrest that "I just get up and go kill when I feel like it," according to prosecutors.
Darius Mayze, 24, has so far been charged with killing 58-year-old Randall Rockett last month in the Lawndale neighborhood, where both men lived. Police say he's a suspect in two other killings in the span of a week in November: Jose Refugio Ceja, 64, and Ruby Humphrey, 57.
Mayze was was arrested Sunday Sunday after witnesses identified Mayze from surveillance video taken after Rockett was stabbed on Nov. 20, prosecutors said during a court hearing Wednesday.
While being held in custody, Mayze made several statements that were recorded on video, including "Kill as many people as you want to," and "I told you I'm tired, I just get up and go kill when I feel like it."
He was charged with first-degree murder and denied bail.
The surveillance video, released last week by police, shows Mayze walking in the area where Rockett was found stabbed to death in the vestibule of an apartment building in the 1200 block of South Christiana Avenue around 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 20, police said.
Prosecutors said a witness saw Rockett lying on the floor, but thought he'd fallen out of his chair and ran to get help. When he came back, he saw Rockett in a pool of blood, prosecutors said.
Refugio Ceja was found dead from stab wounds during the early morning hours of Nov. 15 when police responding to a call of a person down found him on the ground in the 1100 block of South Keeler Avenue. The caller said he looked out the window and saw the man face up on the sidewalk. He had been stabbed in the neck and shoulder and was dead on the scene, police said. Police found a blood trail ending about half a block south on Keeler, a source said.
Less than 2 miles east, Humphrey, 57, was found dead Nov. 13 in the 3100 block of West Taylor Street, police said. A mother and daughter called police after finding her around 11:10 p.m. She was also found on her back, stabbed in the head and neck, police said.
Detectives set up surveillance after the two additional slayings and, on Sunday, police saw Mayze walking in the area of the killings wearing the same "distinctive" hoodie, jacket and shoes as on the video, prosecutors said.
