Cary man accused in Fox River Grove stabbing takes plea deal

A Cary man accused of stabbing a relative early this year will serve prison time.

Michael D. Eccles, 61, accepted a plea deal Tuesday and entered a guilty plea to attempted aggravated battery.

Eccles must serve at least 50 percent of the 1½-year prison sentence that McHenry County Judge James Cowlin ordered. He’ll receive credit for nine months already spent in the McHenry County Jail.

Eccles, of the 2400 block of Crystal Lake Road, was drinking the night he stabbed a younger, male family member several times, Fox River Grove Police Chief Eric Waitrovich said.

Officers responded at 11:42 p.m.
Jan. 13 to the 200 block of Opatrny Drive, Fox River Grove, to a report of a stabbing victim. Eccles was arrested and taken to the McHenry County Jail, where he remained Tuesday.

Flight for Life took the victim, who was in his 30s, to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville for treatment, police said at the time.

It is not clear what led to the attack.

In exchange for Eccles' plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss more serious charges, including attempted first-degree murder. A conviction of the
Class X felony could have landed Eccles behind bars for as many as
30 years.

Eccles’ defense attorney, Mark Sutter, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.