Words: Steve Brown

A man who was accused of stabbing a young man to death has been released after claiming it was self-defence.

Kenneth Paterimos, 23, was involved in an argument with a 30 year old inside a bar in Chicago on February 21, according to the Chicago Sun Times reported.

Reports claimed the same man waited outside the bar.

According to a police report, Paterimos was stabbed eight times with a boxcutter – once in his left ear, twice in his right arm, three times in the back of the head, once in the chest and once in the collarbone.

Paterimos’ brother held the man on the ground until the police arrived and the suspect was taken into custody.

The young victim – who identified as gay - was taken to a nearby hospital but tragically was pronounced dead.

But on Monday (February 24), the suspect was released without charges after claiming the attack was in self-defence.

Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said: “The individual taken into custody presented a self-defence claim, so he’s been released and we’re now working to corroborate the timeline and the chronology of events that he gave us.

“We just normally have 48 hours under the law to question individuals and then, depending on how those interrogations go, information is obtained and shared and now we have to corroborate what he told us.

“And if everything is factual the way he describes it, then he could have a self-defence claim. And if not, he could face charges.”

A crowdfunding page has been set up to pay for the young man’s funeral.