Homewood Man Charged in Murder of 3-Year-Old Son

A Homewood man is accused of raping and stabbing the mother of his 3-year-old child before turning a knife on the boy, stabbing the child 10 times on his torso, neck and arms — including a large stab into the back of the boy's neck.

Chicago Police said Gregory Sandifer, 27, of the 900 block of Bowling Green Drive, pushed the woman out of the window of her apartment on West Division Street at 11:15 a.m. Friday after sexually assaulting her, stabbing her and bashing her with a TV set.

Then he attacked the child, police said.

NBC Chicago reports that a neighbor inside the apartment said Jaivon Sandifer, 3, was killed in his bed.

His mother, 25-year-old Margaret Jefferson, pleaded for help from neighbors after being thrown from the window, the Chicago Tribune reports.

"There wasn't any part of her body that wasn't covered with blood. She was practically naked," neighbor Kathy Perez told the Tribune. "She kept asking (police) to go get (her) baby. 'He's gonna kill my baby.'"

When Chicago police arrived at the apartment and forced their way in, Sandifer jumped from the second floor and fled. He injured himself in the leap, but police caught him hiding in a nearby garage.

Memorials to the little boy, whose favorite superhero was Iron Man, have been placed outside the West Side apartment building, according to the Tribune report. The mother is hospitalized in critical condition.

On Sunday, a Cook County judge denied bail for Sandifer, who is scheduled for a court appearance Tuesday.