A September trial date is set for a Chicago man and woman accused of brutally beating two exchange students with a baseball bat in 2010.
The trial for Heriberto Viramontes and Marcy Cruz is scheduled to begin Sept. 9. Viramontes and Cruz were charged with 25 felony counts in connection with the April 23 attack that left Stacy Jurich and Natasha McShane critically injured.
Viramontes is accused of striking Jurich and McShane, knocking them unconscious and stealing their purses under a railroad viaduct in the 1800 block of North Damen. Cruz allegedly waited in a vehicle during the attack, according to authorities.
Surveillance video at a nearby gas station after the attack captured the pair trying to buy gas with the victims' credit cards, police said. Investigators said they tracked down the suspects using the credit card records.
The attack left McShane with severe brain damage, which led Chicago doctors to place her in a medically induced coma. She spent more than a month in the coma and, after doctors removed a portion of her brain, she was able to use her arms and to talk in whispers, her parents said.
She returned to Ireland in July 2010.
