Knife Pierced Heart Of Joliet Mother At Fairview

JOLIET, IL - On Oct. 1, 2010, 20-year-old Marcedes Flakes went to the Will County Courthouse to obtain an emergency order of protection against Christopher Lee Beale. Within days of filing the order, though, Flakes withdrew her petition that sought to bar Beale from having contact with her and their child. In 2011 and 2015, Joliet Police arrested Beale for domestic battery against her. On Monday, Joliet Police arrested Beale, now 30, for murdering the 28-year-old woman. She was fatally stabbed in the back with a knife, prosecutors revealed on Tuesday afternoon as Beale, wearing a green jail jumpsuit, listened on.

During the hearing in Courtroom 305, Assistant State's Attorney Christopher Messina asked Will County Judge Art Smigielski to set bail at $5 million in connection with Monday morning's domestic violence slaying at the Fairview public housing projects. But after hearing oral arguments, Judge Smigielski set bail at $2 million.

As it stands, Beale will now need to come up with $200,000 cash in order to post bond. Family members of the victim were in Courtroom 305, and they told Patch after the hearing that they highly doubt the 30-year-old construction worker can come up with $200,000 in bail money. The judge also appointed the Will County Public Defender's Office to represent Beale in his criminal proceedings.

The victim and Beale had three children together, the relatives told Joliet Patch.

Messina had argued that a $5 million bail was most appropriate given the violent nature of the crime. The victim died in the street after collapsing shortly before 7 a.m. She had been stabbed with a knife in her back, the prosecutor informed the judge. Following the crime, Beale called up family members and he got out of Joliet as fast as he could, the prosecutor explained.

However, the Joliet Police Department had put out the word for other departments to be on the lookout for Beale. The Chicago Police Department captured Beale and took him into custody.

Although Beale has strong ties to Joliet and a house on Arthur Avenue, the murder defendant has lived in Gary, Indiana, and just a couple years ago, he was living in Glendale, Arizona, court records show.

Beale also had multiple criminal cases at the Will County Courthouse involving crimes of domestic violence against the woman he now stands accused of killing.

Flakes, at age 20, filed an emergency order of protection against Beale at the Will County Courthouse back on October 1, 2010 - exactly eight years to the day that she was slain.

"I was going to my car outside my house and Christopher came to my house when I was outside getting my child ... Christopher jump out (sic) his car and threw a black bag over me and put me in the back of his truck and told me 'I am going to throw you in the river ... I kept trying to pull the bag off of me. My child was crying. My cousin ... had told him to stop so many times like five times then when I got the bag off he told his friend to pull off and was going to kill me and my child," the protection order reads.

Flakes informed the court that Beale had called "me a bitch, hoes, unfit bitch. I am really scare (sic) of him. Christopher have (sic) took my child out of my car and took my car and didn't come back for hours and he told me if I call the police he was going to hurt me and my children."

However, the court schedule shows that within days of filing the emergency protection order, Flakes had it withdrawn by the court system.

In September 2014, Beale was arrested and charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, a Class X felony. He was charged with delivering of Ecstasy. However, the following year during the pretrial portion of the case, the prosecutors office informed the judge that the drug case was being dismissed.

"The defendant is ordered released from custody," wrote Will County Judge Sarah Jones on July 1, 2015.

In November 2011, Beale was arrested by the Joliet Police Department on charges of domestic battery. The victim in the case was Marcedes Flakes, the court file states. In that case, "said defendant struck Marcedes Flakes about the body," the complaint states.

In September 2015, Beale was arrested by Joliet Police again on charges of domestic battery. The complaint states that "said defendant struck Marcedes Flakes about the head" on Aug. 20, 2015.

After Tuesday's hearing, supporters of Flakes told Joliet Patch that the stabbing was witnessed by the couple's oldest child as several of the victim's children were home getting ready for school when the crime happened.

They said that Flakes had lived at the Fairview public housing unit for about a year. They said Beale was not staying there and that he had pulled up his car and went inside the apartment on Monday morning, yelling at her and then using a knife to stab her as she tried to get away from him.

The knife wound punctured one of the arteries in her heart, the prosecutor said in court.

"He took her life. She was trying to get away from him," one of the relatives said outside the courtroom. "Marci was a good person. He took her away from her babies."

Original Joliet Patch story that was posted Tuesday morning:

Christopher Lee Beale, who has been a regular inmate at the Will County Jail since 2015, is now in custody after Joliet Police Department investigators arrested him for Monday's murder at the Fairview public housing projects. Shortly before 7 a.m., 28-year-old Marcedes "Marci" Flakes ran out of an apartment and collapsed in the street, in the 1500 block of Fairmont Avenue. Authorities say she died from a stab wound to her back.

Joliet Police issued a statement at 8:58 a.m. Tuesday revealing how they identified Beale as the killer.

"Multiple witnesses identified Beale as the person last seen with the victim. Detectives, through their investigation, were able to also identify Beale as the person responsible for the victim’s death," Joliet Police officials said. "Detectives were able to determine Beale had fled Joliet and was heading to Chicago.

"Detectives notified Chicago P.D. of Beale’s intentions. Chicago P.D. was able to quickly locate and detain Beale until Joliet detectives arrived to transport Beale back to Joliet. After further investigation, Beale was arrested and charged with the above offense."

On Monday, Joliet Patch had learned that the 30-year-old Beale was taken into custody for questioning as the prime suspect in connection with her death. Jail logs indicate that Beale was processed and had his latest booking mugshot taken at the Will County Jail at 11:39 p.m. on Monday.

He now faces charges of killing the Joliet woman, whom he has had a longstanding turbulent relationship, court files show.

On Oct. 1, 2010, Marcedes Flakes, who is sometimes referred to as Mercedes Flakes, had taken out a protection order exactly eight years before her slaying against Beale, who lived at the same address on Arthur Avenue at the time. Flakes was living at the old Des Plaines Development, which has since been torn down and turned into Water's Edge.

However, Flakes subsequently withdrew her Oct. 1, 2010 protection order at the Will County Courthouse. "Comes on for emergency Order of Protection. Cause is dismissed, as petitioner leaves before Order of Protection is heard," court records show.

In 2015, Joliet Police charges Beale with domestic battery; at the time of his eventual arrest in April 2016 he was residing in Glendale, Arizona, court records show. The victim in that case was Monday's murder victim.

"As a condition of bond, defendant shall have no contact with Marcedes Flakes. Defendant remanded to the custody of the Will County Sheriff," court records state.

In October 2017, Beale pleaded guilty to the reduced crime of battery for injuring Flakes. He was sentenced to 104 days in county jail but given credit for 52 days of time served.

Monday night's jail logs indicate Beale lives in the 1300 block of Arthur Avenue.

Joliet Police arrested him on charges of murder. He will likely go before a Will County judge in Courtroom 305 for his first court appearance on Tuesday afternoon.

“Our patrol officers and detectives worked hand in hand and were able to bring a quick closure to a heartbreaking incident to the victim’s family," Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner said in a statement issued at 8:58 a.m. Tuesday morning.

"The dedicated work of everyone involved will hopefully help with the long healing process that the family will go through. I couldn’t be more proud of the men and women in our department for the way they diligently and methodically put the case together, culminating in a first-degree murder charge. I also want to thank Jim Glasgow and his staff for all of their help and expertise. We have always had a great relationship with them, and they trust our detectives to put a solid case together.”

Patch will update this story later today as more becomes known.

ORIGINAL STORY: Fairmont Avenue Murder Victim Identified By Coroner

Mugshot of Christopher Beale via Will County Sheriff