Crystal Lake Man Who Claimed Marks Were Hickeys Convicted of Strangulation

A 20-year-old Crystal Lake man who claimed marks on his girlfriend’s neck were hickeys, and not hand marks from an attack, was found guilty Thursday of aggravated domestic battery with strangulation, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Mario Martinez-Romero was also found guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia but was acquitted from several other charges. His sentencing hearing is set for March and could face between five to seven years in prison, according to the newspaper.

Prosecutors said Martinez-Romero and his 22-year-old girlfriend got into an argument on July 28 and Martinez-Romero strangled the woman, according to media reports. The couple’s 5-month-old baby was nearby during the attack.

Martinez-Romero testified during the two-day trial that marks on the woman’s neck were actually hickeys and his mother told a McHenry County courtroom the victim had the marks for three days before the alleged attack, according to the Northwest Herald.

The Northwest Herald reports Assistant State’s Attorney John Gibbon said in his closing argument the “hickey story is a bunch of bull.

“It was concocted to explain why all of a sudden [the victim] has a finger mark on the side of her neck where she said this defendant was choking her,” he said.