Background: N. Hoyne Avenue in Chicago, Ill. where Whitney Wilcox allegedly stabbed her boyfriend to death (Google Maps). Inset: Whitney Wilcox (Chicago Police Department).
A Chicago woman who was arrested and accused of murder after DNA evidence connected her to the fatal stabbing of her boyfriend was also accused of dancing during her initial arrest.
The Chicago Police Department reported on Dec. 3 that Whitney Wilcox, 40, had been taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder months after the stabbing death of her boyfriend Jeremy Rodgers, 42. The incident took place in February, and Wilcox had been arrested at the scene. But new court records stated that during that arrest, Wilcox allegedly asked a Google device to play music — then proceeded to dance while handcuffed.
The Chicago Sun-Times wrote that according to court records from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office, police responded to a 911 call made by Wilcox at 2:20 a.m. on Feb. 26. She reportedly said that her boyfriend had been stabbed, but she didn’t know who did it. When police arrived at the home being shared by the couple, Wilcox was reportedly “distressed but otherwise clean and free from blood” while Rodgers was in the bathroom bleeding from a wound to his abdomen and allegedly blaming Wilcox for the stabbing. He also told paramedics and hospital staff that it was Wilcox who stabbed him.
Wilcox also allegedly eventually admitted to stabbing Rodgers but claimed it was in self-defense while the two were fighting. She was arrested at the scene and put in handcuffs.
While she waited for police to take her in for questioning, the court records stated that she “ordered her Google device to play several songs and danced while handcuffed in the living room.” She was eventually released and not charged with any crime.
Rodgers succumbed to his wounds at the hospital the following day. His death was ruled a homicide.
Months after Rodgers’ death, DNA evidence on a bloody knife that police found by the kitchen sink at the scene of the alleged crime revealed that Wilcox’s genetic material was found on the handle and Rodgers’ blood was on the blade. The results of that testing prompted Chicago police to arrest Wilcox again on Dec. 2 and charge her with first-degree murder.
Judge Caroline Glennon-Goodman ordered that Wilcox be held without bail pending trial.
