Trial set for East Chicago teacher charged with making ‘hit list’ – Chicago Tribune

A jury trial is scheduled later this year for a former fifth grade schoolteacher at St. Stanislaus Catholic School in East Chicago accused of making a “hit list.”

Angelica C. Carrasquillo, 25, of Griffith, was charged Oct. 14 with intimidation, a Level 6 felony. She posted a $2,000 bond in December.

Lake Superior Judge Natalie Bokota set her trial on Tuesday for Sept. 11 with a pretrial conference set for June 8, according to court records.

Carrasquillo said she would kill herself, students and staff, according to court records.

A school counselor was taking two fifth graders to Carrasquillo’s class for recess detention when one boy told him about the threats and her list of names on it. The boy later told a principal he knew he was on the bottom of the list. Police were called at 4:45 p.m.

Carrasquillo was ordered to the principal’s office, saying she had struggled with her mental health and “sometimes the kids don’t listen.” She also had unresolved trauma from high school, she said in the affidavit.

Later, Carrasquillo claimed she was “only joking.” She didn’t give a list and only named one student. She later said she had a car that could fit “two dead bodies” in the trunk.

“The East Chicago Police Department was not made aware of the situation until 4 hours later after the teacher was allowed to leave,” East Chicago Police Chief Jose Rivera said previously in an email. “Once Officers were notified they completed a report and notified the Criminal Investigation Division.”

School officials escorted the teacher to the principal’s office when the teacher admitted to making the comments and saying she had a “kill list.”

“During the conversation, the teacher named a specific student on her list, but did not provide the list. The Principal then advised the teacher to leave and not return to school pending an investigation.”

Rivera said police obtained an emergency detention order from the Lake County Prosecutor’s office and she was taken into custody.

mcolias@post-trib.com

Post-Tribune freelance reporter Carole Carlson contributed.