EDGEWATER — The mother of a 21-year-old Edgewater resident who died while trying to thwart a knife attack on the street is raising money to bury her son.
Jamel Henton was fatally stabbed Wednesday while he tried to intervene in a confrontation outside his home in the 5200 block of North Sheridan Road, according to authorities.
At around 11:40 p.m. Wednesday, 23-year-old Isis Monae was on the Sheridan Road block when she went up to a 26-year-old man waiting for his girlfriend and propositioned him for sex, according to CBS 2 Chicago, citing court testimony. When the man declined, Monae allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed him, seriously injuring the man.
In response, the 26-year-old grabbed a hammer from his car and began chasing Monae, CBS 2 reported.
Henton came out of his house and attempted to calm down Monae when she stabbed him in his chest, police said. He was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston where he died early Thursday, authorities said.
Henton worked at a local Potbelly shop and is described as a 6-foot-10 “gentle giant who was kind and respectful to everyone,” his mother, Aisha Barton, wrote in a GoFundMe. He was in the process of enrolling in community college when he was killed.
The fundraiser is seeking to raise money for Henton’s funeral costs and has raised more than $5,000 in less than a day.
“The news outlets are calling him a good Samaritan for saving two people he didn’t know from being hurt or killed,” Barton wrote in the GoFundMe. “Many have deemed him a hero but to me, Jamel was my youngest child and my only son that was stolen from me and is now gone.”
Monae, who also lived in the 5200 block of North Sheridan Road, was arrested and charged with murder and aggravated use of a deadly weapon, according to Chicago police. She was denied bail in a weekend bond court appearance, CBS 2 reported.
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