John Singleton, 31, who dated Alexis' mother and once said he was "like a father" to the girl, is accused of killing her around 9:45 p.m. in the 4600 block of North Beacon Street in Uptown's Sheridan Park neighborhood, where she lived with her mother, according to police.



Singleton was arrested about six hours later after officers, tracking his cellphone, found him blocks away in a portable toilet, police said. He was charged with murder and was ordered held without bail during a hearing in bond court Tuesday.



Singleton had been at the girl's apartment most of the day Sunday, but in the evening the mother called 911 because she wanted him to leave, according to a law enforcement source, citing preliminary information.



The mother and Alexis left the apartment as the mother called police and waited for officers, the source said. But the daughter went back into the building to talk to a neighbor, the source said. McFadden heard the same thing around the neighborhood.



"When she went back in the building, he just snatched her up and he tormented her, he tortured her," McFadden said.



The mother heard screams and rushed back into the building and found her daughter on the floor with stab wounds, the law enforcement source said. An autopsy Monday determined Alexis died of multiple sharp force and blunt force injuries, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.



Neighbors said Alexis and her mother had been inseparable.



"They was like Siamese twins, you know, you didn't see them apart," said Reggie Taylor, a maintenance worker who knew the girl most of her life. "She really, she really took care of her baby.



"When she was young, 3 years old ... she looked like a little Shirley Temple. Little curls, little chubby girl, very happy all the time," Taylor said. "She was a sweet little kid, she was a sweet girl, a sweet girl."



When Singleton was charged in 2014 with attacking Alexis' mother, he stated in court documents that he was "like a father" to Alexis, who was then 9. But he admitted his relationship with Alexis' mother was prone to violence and suggested they needed counseling.



Police say Singleton had attacked the girl's mother Aug. 23 of that year, choking her and shoving her against a closet. "I will go to jail for you," he told her, according to police. "I will kill you."



He was arrested later that day and charged with four counts of domestic battery, unlawful restraint, aggravated battery by strangulation and aggravated domestic strangulation. Cook County court records show he pleaded guilty in December 2014 and was sentenced to three years in prison and two years of supervised release.



He was paroled from Menard Correctional Center in early April. He had told authorities he wanted to seek couple's therapy when he was released. Records show a protection order against Singleton involving Alexis' mother expired in December.