Berwyn man charged with slitting man's throat at Chicago bar Saturday

A Berwyn man was charged with fatally slitting the throat of a man who was talking to his girlfriend at a bar in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood on the Near West Side shortly after midnight May 30.

Ulises Almaraz, 29, of the the 2500 block of Grove Avenue, was ordered held without bond for killing 45-year-old Rudy Avina, of the 4700 block of Franklin Boulevard, Chicago, at Simone’s bar, 960 W. 18th St. in Chicago, according to a release from the Cook County State's Attorney's office.

Officials said surveillance video showed Almaraz coming to the bar with a woman, who ran into Avina, an old friend. The woman and Avina began talking. Almaraz, the woman and Avina appeared to be socializing together, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the woman and Avina were sitting next to each other at the bar talking when Almaraz walked up from behind, hugged the woman, then stood behind the victim and slit his throat. Both men fell to the ground and the woman pulled Almaraz off the body of Avina. She then took the knife and handed it to a bouncer. Almaraz was detained by Simone's staff until police arrived.

Almaraz told police he killed Avina because he was talking to the woman, according to prosecutors.