An adult and two teenagers from Hanover Park were charged Monday with last week's stabbing death of a 56-year-old discount store clerk in the suburb.
They're also accused of robbing her of $135.
Jerry Lockheart, 39, Dewaun Tate, 17, and Seneca Berry, 15, all have been charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery and will appear in DuPage County Bond Court this afternoon, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The victim, Vatsala Thakkar, 56, of Hanover Park was stabbed in the back during the robbery about 1:30 p.m. last Thursday, DuPage County State's Atty. Joseph Birkett said. All three defendants lived within several blocks of the store, were familiar with it and had planned the robbery, Birkett said. "This wasn't a random crime."
Thakkar was transported to St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates, where she died at 2:21 p.m., the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office said.
Prosecutors allege that all three men took part in an attempted robbery of the Dollar Plus store, at 5662 Arlington Drive East and, during the course of the robbery, killed Thakkar, the release said.
