Prosecutor: Man beat pregnant girlfriend to death with hammer

Chicago Sun Times- A Hanover Park man beat his pregnant girlfriend to death with a hammer after accusing her of being unfaithful to him, Cook County prosecutors said today as 32-year-old Rafael Alvarado appeared in court charged with her murder.

Alvarado at one point briefly halted his deadly attack on 31-year-old Norma Favela to comfort her young daughter, who had began crying in another room of their Hanover Park home, but then resumed beating Favela, prosecutors said during his hearing.

Judge Kay Hanlon set bail for Alvarado at $10 million, requiring him to post $1 million to be released from the Cook County Jail.

Alvarado, who was living with Favela and her two young daughters, was charged late Thursday with murdering his girlfriend and also with the intentional homicide of an unborn child.

Favela was at least seven months pregnant when she was murdered early Thursday in her home, authorities have said. Her unborn child also died in the attack, which was discovered by police when they received a 911 call from the home about 12:30 a.m. Thursday.

Alvarado wasn’t at the home when police arrived.

He was taken into custody later in the day outside a Melrose Park home, then charged late Thursday after allegedly admitting his involvement in the slayings, prosecutors said.

Alvarado persuaded a neighbor to drive him to Melrose Park after the attack, where Alvarado then offered another person cash to drive him to the U.S.-Mexico border, prosecutors contended.

The hammer purportedly used in the fatal attack was found in the small ranch house where Favela lived with her two daughters and Alvarado, whom authorities believe was the father of Favela’s unborn baby.

Alvarado is accused of attacking Favela during a jealous rage, prosecutors said.

“The defendant became jealous and accused her of cheating with a neighbor,” prosecutor Shilpa Patel said.

Neither of Favela’s two daughters — ages 2 and 10 — was harmed during the fatal beating, authorities said.

Alvarado appeared in court barefoot and wearing baggy white jail fatigues.

Bloody clothes he allegedly wore during the attack had been confiscated by police, prosecutors said.

Alvarado previously has served time in a federal prison for a drug offense, and also has been convicted of felony DUI, resisting arrest and other traffic violations.