Hammond woman accused of fatally stabbing boyfriend
A Hammond woman is accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death early Sunday morning.
Chukeya D. Rockett is charged with murder. She is in custody, being held without bail.
In the early morning hours of May 19, Rockett called the police, stating that her boyfriend and roommate, 22-year-old Isaiah McCriston, was unconscious, would not wake up and there was blood all over the apartment, according to the probable cause affidavit. Once Hammond officers arrived at the scene in the 1600 block of 169th Street, they found McCriston naked, lying on his back and he appeared to be deceased.
Police said the apartment was in an extreme state of disarray, with objects covering the floors, many of them shattered, and there was a significant amount of blood on doors, walls, furniture and floors, records state. Police found three kitchen knives resting on the arms of a couch in the living room near McCriston’s body.
McCriston had cuts to his face as well as a large wound in his lower body, court records state.
Officers asked Rockett what had happened at the apartment. Though she answered their questions, police said she tried to mitigate her involvement in McCriston’s death, the affidavit states. She told police that on the night of May 18, she and McCriston had gone bowling at Castaways in Calumet City, Illinois, and drank a lot of alcohol. After they returned home, they started arguing and the argument soon turned physical, records state. She said McCriston had a history of domestic violence against her, which was confirmed by prior police calls to the address.
Rockett told police that McCriston was going to take a bath, so she left the apartment a block away and fell asleep in her car, court records state. When she woke up and returned to the apartment, she found McCriston lying face down in the living room with a lot of blood all over the place. Then, she called police when he failed to respond, the affidavit states.
Rockett was wearing a jacket inside out, and there was a large amount of dried blood on her clothes, face and arms.
A witness said she heard constant noise coming from the apartment between 12 and 1 a.m. on May 19, including objects being thrown and dishes being broken, records state. Around 12:28 a.m., she heard McCriston say “Get out.”
A different witness said Rockett called her in a panic that night, saying McCriston was lying on the floor unresponsive, court records state. Rockett told the witness on another call that she couldn’t remember all of the events of that night and thought she had blacked out for part of the time.
Around 7 a.m. on May 19, Rockett sat for a recorded interview at the Hammond Police Department, the affidavit states. Police said Rockett again tried to minimize her involvement in McCriston’s death. She told police the pair started arguing when they arrived home, with McCriston saying, “You don’t really love me,” records state. She said McCriston had a higher level of intoxication than usual and he started throwing items around the apartment. She said he started throwing her around and grabbing her by the throat, court records state. She tried to swing her arms to defend herself, but he overpowered her.
He told her he was taking a shower and continued to yell at her, the affidavit states. She said that she grabbed small stake knives before she left the apartment and fell asleep in her car. She claimed that the knives were on the passenger seat when she woke up and there was dried blood on her clothing, records state.
She told police that she believed the blood got there while they were fighting. She contacted a friend, who told her to call the police, court records state.
Rockett told police that she didn’t know exactly how McCriston was hurt: “Honestly, the only thing that I can think of is that I grabbed the knife and I stabbed him with it, but I don’t know where,” she told police, saying she thought she blacked out during that part of the fight which left her unable to recall details. When an officer asked to clarify her statement by saying, “You believe you cut him, you just don’t remember it,” Rockett responded “Exactly, absolutely … I know for a fact that this is what I did, but I don’t remember,” the affidavit states.
Police examined photos of the scene taken by Rockett’s phone, which showed that she rolled him over onto his back before police arrived, and there was also a bathtub full of blood-stained water, but it was drained by the time police arrived, records state.
