The quiet, early hours of a Wednesday morning were brutally shattered at an Oswego, Illinois Chick-fil-A, becoming the scene of a shocking double stabbing that left one man dead and another seriously injured. The horrifying events, which spanned nearly two hours, only came to a dramatic end thanks to the incredible bravery of an injured victim and his quick-thinking mother.
Authorities have since charged 19-year-old Darryl Lee Jr., of Kankakee, with a staggering eleven felony counts, including First Degree Murder and Attempted First Degree Murder. The Kendall County State’s Attorney’s Office laid out the devastating details following the attacks on Route 34. The investigation revealed that the violence began around 3:10 a.m. when Lee allegedly broke into the restaurant through a back door.
The first victim was 52-year-old Tracey J. Land of Bridgeview, a delivery driver who was simply making a drop-off. Investigators believe Lee attacked Mr. Land with both a hammer and a knife, killing him inside the restaurant. In a chilling detail, police suggest that after the brutal attack, Lee remained inside the empty establishment, attempting to clean up the crime scene for nearly two hours.
The situation escalated just before 5:00 a.m. when the second victim—a 20-year-old contract maintenance worker—and his mother arrived to begin their shift outside the building. Unaware of the tragedy inside, they were going about their business when Lee suddenly emerged and attacked the young man from behind, stabbing him with a knife.
This is where the story pivots from tragedy to extraordinary courage. A witness called the police, but before officers could arrive, the young man—despite his injuries—managed to fight back and subdue his attacker.
Crucially, his mother, who was nearby, rushed into the terrifying melee. “They were hitting each other,” she later told a news outlet anonymously. “The guy got my son on the floor, so I got out of the car and I was trying to get him away from my son so he couldn’t hit my son anymore.”
When Oswego police officers arrived on the scene at approximately 5:00 a.m., they found the maintenance worker pinning Lee to the ground. They immediately took the suspect into custody. The surviving victim, though seriously injured, was rushed to the hospital and is fortunately in stable condition. His heroism, aided by his mother’s intervention, prevented the incident from escalating further.
It was during questioning of the suspect that officers realized the full horror of what had occurred. Based on Lee’s statements, they conducted a “protective sweep” of the Chick-fil-A and discovered Tracey J. Land’s body inside. The delivery driver had been killed hours before the second attack, with the suspect allegedly waiting inside for his next victim. Police confirmed that no restaurant employees were present during either of the attacks.
Darryl Lee Jr. now faces a multitude of charges, including Concealment of Homicidal Death, Aggravated Battery, Armed Robbery, Armed Violence, and Burglary. He was transported to the Kendall County Jail, with a hearing scheduled to determine his custody. The community is left reeling, struggling to understand the random, horrifying violence that unfolded in the dead of night, all the while praising the bravery of the victims who brought an alleged killer to justice.
