Attack, suicide at Stroger Hospital
A Stroger Hospital kitchen worker committed suicide after attacking his girlfriend, who also worked at the hospital, authorities said.
Ramon Washington, 38, slit his throat after the fight on the lower level of the county hospital Monday afternoon, sources said.
His girlfriend survived the attack and was in stable condition with blunt trauma wounds to her upper torso in the emergency room Monday evening, officials said.
Washington and his girlfriend had been arguing ever since he returned from visiting his children earlier this month in Texas, his father Frank said.
“His girlfriend thought he was staying in a hotel but when she found out he stayed with his children’s mother, she was upset,” Washington’s aunt Mary Rogers added.
“I don’t know why he had to tell her,” Washington’s father said.
Hospital spokeswoman Marisa Kollias said hospital police called the Chicago Police Department for assistance around 3:30 p.m.
Washington, of the 10800 block of South Calumet, was pronounced dead within 45 minutes.
Both Washington and his girlfriend worked in the hospital’s dietary department, Kollias said.
According to Cook County payroll records, Washington is a $32,700-a-year food service worker who was hired in 1992.
Washington’s father Frank said Washington, a graduate of Corliss High School, got the job because his aunt is former Cook County Commissioner Bobbie Steele.
Washington served as a deacon at his church in Harvey, his father added. Frank Washington said he lost his only other son to gun violence 15 years ago.
“I tried my best to get Ramon to do something good with his life,” he said. “He was a gullible kid, but he wasn’t the violent type. This doesn’t make sense to me.”