Man Pleads Guilty In Surprise Knife Attack On Evanston Resident

SKOKIE, IL — A Chicago man charged with the attempted murder of an Evanston resident pleaded guilty to a reduced charge last week in exchange for a sentence that could see him released from prison in less than a year, records show. The West Side resident is currently serving a longer prison term for a drug-related offense than for the violent 2017 incident in Evanston, which involved an attack with a knife and a pillowcase full of canned goods.

Virgil L. Burgs, 62, of the 1200 block of North Massasoit Avenue, Chicago, was arrested on June 20, 2017, after police got a call that someone had just been stabbed in an apartment building in the 2300 block of Noyes Court. He was charged with attempted murder, residential burglary, three counts of home invasion and two counts of aggravated battery.

Officers arrived to find a resident of the building suffering from multiple knife wounds. He told police he answered a knock at his door to find Burgs, an acquaintance. Burgs began hitting him with the weighted pillowcase, police were told.

As the resident tried to defend himself, Burgs drew a blade and stabbed him in the neck, shoulder and hand. Burgs told the man he was going to kill him for saying bad things about him, according to police.

Police found Burgs inside another unit in the same apartment building, arrested and ordered held without bail. The bloodied 53-year-old resident he attacked was taken to Evanston Hospital, treated and released.

Burgs pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated battery causing severe bodily harm — a class 3 felony punishable by two to five years in prison — in exchange for a five-year prison sentence after spending more than two years in Cook County Jail. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the six other felonies with which they charged him in connection with the incident, according to court records.

Burgs was also sentenced to six years in prison for a class 1 drug felony involving the possession of narcotics within 500 feet of a school, a park or other specially protected piece of property. Since both sentences are being served concurrently and require 50 percent of time to be served, Burgs is projected to be released on parole in June 2020, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

After getting out of prison, he will be forbidden to have any contact with the man he admitted attacking under the terms of an order of protection signed at the time of his guilty plea.

Earlier: 60-Year-Old Man Charged With Attempted Murder Over Evanston Stabbing