Lowell stabbing suspect charged with attempted murder

The teenager was sitting in the bleachers and watching a baseball game around 3:45 p.m. at the Lowell Bluebirds Softball Field when an unknown male subject approached her from her left, according to a probable cause affidavit. 

“This subject hovered over her while holding a large knife,” court documents said. “When this subject tried to stab her in the chest with the knife, she blocked it with her hand.”

The suspect attempted to stab the girl’s mother before fleeing the scene, officials said.

Yanes was named as a person of interest Sunday morning. A manhunt extended into late Sunday afternoon when Yanes was apprehended after a foot pursuit in southeast Crown Point.

The girl was transported to St. Anthony’s Hospital to receive treatment for injuries which included lacerations to the index finger and middle finger of her left hand, officials said.

Charges were filed with the Lake County prosecutor’s office Tuesday. Yanes has been charged with attempted murder, a level-one felony; aggravated battery, a level-three felony; battery with serious bodily injury to a person under 14 and the defendant is 18 or older, a level-three felony; and two level-five felonies for intimidation and battery by means of a deadly weapon.

Yanes was believed to have been in the process of cutting his hair to change his appearance before he was arrested, Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said.

He had been deported to Honduras in 2018. Since reentering the country in 2022, Yanes has committed crimes in at least five states including New York, Illinois, Georgia, Ohio and Indiana, Martinez said in a statement Tuesday evening.

“His criminal history includes battery, trespassing, intoxication, attempted burglary and now attempted murder,” Martinez said.

Yanes has been classified as a risk to law enforcement and national security due to documented ties to the international gang Mara Salvatrucha 13, commonly known as MS-13.

“This case demonstrates the need for rigorous border control,” Martinez said. “It’s a serious concern not only for me, as sheriff of Lake County, but for sheriffs serving all 92 counties in Indiana.”

A probable cause affidavit stated Yanes returned to the U.S. from Honduras through Texas in 2022. During an interview with law enforcement officials, Yanes said he received rides to Colorado and took a train to Chicago. 

“He knew that he was now between Chicago and Indiana,” court documents said. 

Yanes told police the stabbing was not intentional and someone was following him and telling him to do it, according to the probable cause affidavit. He also told police he used a knife to cause harm to the girl, but he only pointed it toward her and she stopped it with her hand. After seeing the girl’s facial expression, Yanes claimed he felt uncomfortable.

He told officials he fled the scene once people began chasing him. While fleeing Yanes threw the knife in front of a house at the entrance of the woods. 

Yanes is being held at the Lake County Jail. His bail is set at $15,000 cash or $150,000 surety, online court records show.

“The violence of this 13-year-old was forced to endure is unspeakable,” Martinez said. “We will continue to support her and her family, and pray for her complete and speedy recovery.”

Times staff reporter Adrian Martinez-De La Cruz contributed to this report.