Crest Hill Woman Who Poked His Stomach With Kitchen Knife Pleads Guilty, Learns Her Sentence

JOLIET, IL — Three months after 38-year-old Crest Hill resident Sylvia Tovar spent three days in the Will County Jail following a stabbing incident at her house on Huron Street, she has brought her criminal case to a close by pleading guilty under a plea bargain.

In January, the Will County State's Attorney's Office charged Tovar with aggravated battery and domestic battery. Crest Hill police responded to Tovar's house and took her away in handcuffs on a Sunday night.

The criminal complaint accused Tovar of using a deadly weapon, a knife, "in that said defendant poked (the victim) in the stomach" on Jan. 4.

Last week, Tovar returned to the Will County Courthouse, pleading guilty to her domestic battery charge. Under the plea agreement, Tovar's far more serious charge, aggravated battery, was dropped. Tovar was given 24 months of court probation and ordered to pay $702 in court costs and $1,200 in probation fees. She subsequently filed paperwork at the courthouse seeking a waiver of her fees, citing hardship.

As part of her sentence, Tovar must obtain drug and alcohol evaluations, complete parenting classes and complete domestic violence counseling.

"The defendant's SCRAM device shall be removed pursuant to a plea in the above-captioned matter," her sentencing court order stated.

On Jan. 7, Tovar was the focus of a Joliet Patch crime story headlined: "Crest Hill Woman Followed Victim Around Basement Holding Her Knife, Stabbed Him In Stomach: Prosecutor."

A Crest Hill police officer spoke with her victim, and he revealed Tovar "is an alcoholic and was trying to order more alcohol through Uber delivery from her cell phone, so he took the phone and canceled the order," court documents show. "The parties began arguing about drinking and Sylvia would go back on her phone to order more alcohol and he would cancel it, this occurred three times in total."

Prosecutors pointed out that after the third time, the victim refused to give Tovar back her phone and "she became angry and followed him around. Sylvia's father came down, and she argued with her father and hit (him) in the head with her hand."

Then, Tovar picked up a large kitchen knife, and she followed the victim throughout the house, demanding her phone back, court files reflect.

"Sylvia pressed the point of the knife into his stomach with a stabbing motion but did not penetrate his stomach or leave any injuries," prosecutors revealed.

Tovar's father told Crest Hill police "she is an alcoholic and heard them arguing while he was upstairs. He went downstairs to tell her stop drinking and she began to yell at him and slapped him in the chest with her hand," prosecutors said. "He went back upstairs and did not observe the knife incident."

In early January, Will County Judge Chrystel Gavlin rejected the prosecution's petition seeking to deny pretrial release for Tovar under the SAFE-T-Act. Instead, the judge released Tovar from the Will County Jail and placed her on electronic monitoring.