An unsettling event unfolded in Illinois when a teenager was apprehended on serious allegations that have shocked the community. The young man, 19-year-old Nedas Revuckas, stands accused of brutally stabbing a pregnant woman and attacking her pet dog with a knife before setting the victim’s home ablaze. This horrifying incident reportedly occurred during what was supposed to be a routine transaction arranged through Facebook Marketplace.
Revuckas faces a slew of charges, including first-degree murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child, animal cruelty, armed robbery, and arson. The victim, Eliza Morales, 30, was found stabbed multiple times in her apartment in Downers Grove. The tragedy unfolded on a Monday, leaving a community in mourning and disbelief.
The ill-fated encounter began with a seemingly innocent transaction. Revuckas responded to a Facebook Marketplace advertisement listed by Morales’s husband, who was selling a red 1994 Ford Ranger pickup truck. After initially visiting their home on Saturday to inspect the vehicle, Revuckas departed with the truck, still bearing the Morales family’s license plates, according to reports from local media outlets.
Arrangements were made for Revuckas to return to the Morales’ apartment building on Monday. The purpose of this meeting was to return the license plates and complete the sale with a bill of sale. However, the meeting took a tragic turn, as evidenced by surveillance footage capturing Revuckas arriving to meet Morales, who was five months pregnant with her second child, at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Nedas Revuckas, 19, is facing several charges, including first-degree murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child, animal cruelty, armed robbery and arson. (Downers Grove Police)
Surveillance video later showed Revuckas meeting Morales, who was five months pregnant with her second child, at around 5:30 p.m.
Morales was seen at one point handing Revuckas a screwdriver. He entered the building with a screwdriver in his hand behind his back about five minutes later, and video shows the door to the Morales’s unit opening and closing during what investigators say appeared to be a struggle inside.
Police said the door handle turned from the inside, suggesting someone was attempting to escape.
A short time later, smoke was seen coming from beneath the apartment door.
Firefighters responded and found Morales near the apartment door. She was pronounced dead after being put in an ambulance.
Morales’ husband was at work during the encounter, and the couple’s two-year-old child was not home either.
But the couple’s elderly dog was inside the apartment and was stabbed between the eyes, authorities said. Revuckas also admitted to kicking the dog.
The dog managed to escape through a sliding door during the fire and was treated at a veterinary hospital.
Eliza Morales, 30, had about 70 stab wounds on her body. (GoFundMe)
Investigators later arrived at Revuckas’ home in Westmont, where he lives with his girlfriend, and found the pickup truck in the driveway. He was taken into custody late Monday night.
Revuckas told investigators he was at the Morales’ apartment to return the license plates and retrieve the bill of sale but claimed he left through the main entrance. However, surveillance footage does not show him exiting the building.
During a search warrant executed at his home on Tuesday, investigators found boots and clothing with what appeared to be blood.
He later confessed to killing Morales, telling investigators he stabbed her 10 times. He said he was angry about the condition of the truck he had purchased and took out his frustration on her. She had told him she was pregnant during the struggle inside the apartment, authorities said.
An autopsy conducted by the DuPage County Coroner found roughly 70 stab wounds on Morales, most inflicted by a knife. The coroner said there were defensive injuries and that most wounds were to Morales’ head and neck. The preliminary cause of death was multiple sharp-force injuries. Soot was also discovered in her airway.
The coroner also said the preliminary cause of death included intrauterine fetal demise caused by her injuries.
Vaginal bruising was reported, and a sexual assault kit was conducted, but Revuckas denied sexually assaulting the woman.
The couple’s elderly dog was inside the apartment and was stabbed between the eyes. (GoFundMe)
Revuckas also admitted to starting the fire using items from the apartment and the kitchen stove. He told police he stacked household items on the stove and used chemicals and sanitizer as accelerants.
“I’m gonna spend the rest of my life missing her,” Morales’ husband, Gabriel, told WLS-TV. “I can get every second back with her and just continue trying to live through her for my daughter, and continue to be strong for my family.”
A GoFundMe set up for the family raised nearly $30,000 as of Thursday morning.
“The loss of a beloved wife, daughter, and mother — along with her unborn child has left pain that words cannot fully express,” the fundraiser set up by a family member reads.
